If I Was The One
by hotchadobsessed
Summary: AU Leyton. Lucas and Peyton grew up the best of friends. What happens when jealousy starts to become a factor? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Hey so I wrote this story a very long time ago for something else, but I thought I would adapt it to OTH – Leyton so it is AU and some of the people may be OOC but I'm trying to have them not be too much.

So the idea of this story is that Lucas and Peyton have been best friends growing up (think Lucas and Haley) and Haley and Nathan (not related to Lucas in this fic) are also part of the group. Pretty much it's all about Lucas and Peyton and what happens when jealousy is involved in a friendship. Sounds lame, but please just give it a try!

Anyway, since this story is completely written, updates should be pretty frequent – every other day or so, since I only have to adapt it, but keep the reviews coming 'cause they make me happy :)

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story you feel you're read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

Peyton blindly reached over to her bedside table as her phone began buzzing against the hardwood.

"Hello?" She questioned into the phone, not bothering to check the called ID.

"Hey. What's up Blondie?" Lucas greeted, causing a small smile to form on Peyton's face.

"Hmm..." She replied unsure.

"Is that a good hmm, or a bad hmm?" He questioned.

"I don't know, just a hmm." She told him prompting him to laugh quietly on the other end.

"Right. So what are you up to?" He asked.

"Nothing." she replied automatically. Lucas rolled his eyes.

"So you're just staring at the Dave Grohl poster across from your bed, lying perfectly still, doing nothing?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yeah." She answered absentmindedly before she realised what he had said. "Well no. I'm listening to music –"

"Surprise, Surprise." Lucas interrupted.

"Painting my nails, thinking." Peyton rambled, ignoring Lucas' interruption.

"No you're not." He stated simply.

"Oh, and how would you know?" Peyton asked smugly.

"You, painting your nails? I don't think so." Lucas scoffed. Peyton rolled her eyes as she stood from her bed and walked out onto her personal balcony that overlooked the yard next door. Peyton could see Lucas lying on his bed, aimlessly tossing a basketball into the air as he held the phone against his ear. As the silence on Peyton's end stretched, Lucas looked out his window towards her room to see her standing on the balcony, a pearly white smile on her face as she held up her left hand so he could see the shiny new red colour she had just painted her nails.

"Impressive." He told her, nodding.

"Thanks. I guess you don't know me as well as you think you do." She smirked as she talked to him through the window even though they were still on the phone. He smiled at her slightly.

"Nah, I still think I know you pretty well." He told her. "So, about what?"

"Huh?" She asked confused.

"You said you were thinking about something. Feel free to admit it was me."

Peyton could see the cocky smile Lucas was sporting. "You wish." She told him bluntly. "It was just general thinking. You know, why am I here? Why do I look like crap? Why does no one like me? Do I look cute in a bikini?" She shrugged as she finished rambling about her thoughts.

"Yes." He answered.

"Yes what?" She asked him as she was once again confused.

"You look _great _in a bikini. I mean anything that shows off those legs of yours has to be fantastic." He complimented her. "Even if they are a little chicken." He teased and she could see and hear him chuckling.

"Perv." She tried to insult him but couldn't hide the smile on her face. "And no offence, but it doesn't matter what you think. You're not who I'm trying to impress." She stated frankly.

"Oh well then sorry for complimenting you." Lucas pouted. Peyton sighed.

"You're like my brother, I'm sure you'd say things like that even when I looked bad."

"No I wouldn't." He assured her. 'I'd sooner tell you that you look like crap."

"Gee thanks." Peyton replied sarcastically.

"Like now for instance." He continued. "I mean you could have at least _tried_ to look decent before coming out onto the balcony to face me."

Peyton glanced down at her attire.

"I'm in my pyjamas!" She scoffed. "Besides, I already told you that you're not the one I'm trying to impress."

"Okay, so who is the unlucky recipient of your affections then?" Lucas enquired.

Peyton shrugged. "No one. I'm just saying that _you_ are not one of them." She threw him a grin as she turned and went back into her room, closing the balcony doors behind her.

"Hey!" She heard him yell outside. "We're not finished, get back out here."

"I'm still on the phone doofus." Peyton answered him on the phone, as she lay back onto her bed.

"Fine, but you know it's not the same thing."

Peyton guessed Lucas was probably pouting even though he knew she couldn't see him. She audibly sighed so he could hear her on the phone, before pulling the blanket off her bed and carrying it out onto the balcony with her. She chuckled as she saw that she was right, Lucas was still facing her side of the house, a puppy dog look etched onto his features. She sighed as she took a seat in the old chair, wrapping herself in the blanket.

"But it's cold." She complained, throwing him her own pout.

"You seem pretty comfy to me" he commented as he took in her position on the chair. She only shrugged in response.

"So why weren't we finished?" Peyton asked, trying to stifle a yawn. She could see Lucas sit up as he got ready to delve into the conversation.

"What's in 3 weeks?" he questioned, earning a groan on Peyton's end.

"Prom." She grudgingly replied. Lucas smirked as he raised his eyebrows, clearly indicating something.

"No!" Peyton protested immediately. "I'm not going, let alone with you."

"Come on, we _have_ to go. It's the prom for crying out loud." He attempted to persuade her.

"Exactly. A stupid ritual where people go, hanging off someone's arm like they're a trophy, only to show off in an outfit they sent hundreds of dollars on, an outfit that will just end up in the back of a closet."

"But not before said outfit is crumpled up and thrown into the corner of some room or back seat." He continued, smirking suggestively.

"Precisely."

"Peyt, we both know that won't be happening to _your _dress." Lucas attempted to joke.

"Ha ha." Peyton responded drily.

"Just please come." Lucas resorted to begging.

"But why?" she whined. Lucas looked deep in thought as if he was contemplating a serious answer.

"Well of course I'll need you there to rescue me from the endless number of girls who'll want to dance with yours truly."

"Please!" she laughed. "Who am I to step in and deprive you of that fantasy?" Lucas smirked mischievously.

"I know you wouldn't want me near anyone but you babe."

Peyton rolled her eyes. "You're right. Maybe we should just do it right here and now." She told him sarcastically. Lucas chuckled.

"Nah, I think we should wait until prom since we're _both_ going! Night." Lucas quickly hung up the phone as he moved to the window and shut his curtains, waving slightly before they completely closed. Peyton stared at the phone incredulously.

"I didn't say I was going!" she yelled at the closed window across the lawn.

* * *

Okay so there it is. I realised as I rewrote it that I think Lucas and Peyton are still OOC, so if anyone can give me some tips on how to make it seem more realistic that would be great!

Don't forget to review :)


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the great reception this fic has gotten. So it's a bit 50/50 on the whole OOC debate, so I might just stick with what I have and see how it goes. A big shout out to all of the reviewers, especially those who didn't think it was too OOC – that gives me hope that I'm on the right track.

Oh and this fic has a season one vibe, so keep that in mind while reading. Thanks!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that sounds familiar...**

* * *

Lucas walked up the pathway that led to the Sawyer's residence. As usual he showed no hesitance as he quickly opened the front door and let himself inside. Making his way up the stairs, he entered the bedroom at the end of the hall hoping to find Peyton awake and ready for school. No such luck.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." He whispered softly into her ear, shaking her bare shoulder slightly. Peyton stirred and rolled so she was now facing him. She made an incoherent sound that was a mixture of a groan and a whine, but didn't wake up. Lucas watched as her eyelids flickered ever so slightly and he assumed that she was probably just coming out of a dream.

"Come on babe, wake up." Lucas called a little louder as he shook her none too lightly. Peyton groaned and scrunched up her face in protest.

"Peyt, if you don't get out of bed now, I'm going to get in there with you." Lucas whispered, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Is that a promise?" Peyton asked playfully, bordering on seductive, as a smile crossed her face and her eyes opened slowly. Lucas chuckled as he moved over to her window.

"You wish." He threw over his shoulder. "Now. Get Up." He emphasised each word before pulling on the curtains over her window, letting the early morning sun stream into her room and over her sleeping face.

"No!" she cried as the sunlight half blinded her and she pulled the blanket up over her head to block it out.

Lucas shook his head at her antics and sighed as he moved to the end of the bed. In one swift motion, he yanked the covers off of her to find her lying curled up in a ball. She pouted as she propped herself up on her elbows so she could face him.

"What do you want anyway?" she asked in annoyance as she squinted against the sun.

"I want you." He stated simply, shrugging. Peyton fell back onto the bed laughing as Lucas continued. "To get ready. For school."

Peyton sat up suddenly alert. "School? School!" she cried in realisation as she jumped out of bed.

Lucas watched amused as she rushed around her room trying to pick out an outfit from the various articles of clothing that littered her floor and desk.

"Yep, you know that boring old set of buildings we unfortunately have to attend five days out of the week."

Peyton groaned. "I know what it is, dumb ass. I just kind of forgot that it was today."

"Well hurry up and get ready already so we're not late." He sighed exasperated as she finally settled on her faded jeans and a black band tee. He turned to straighten up her bed.

"Yes sir!" Peyton mock saluted as she hit Lucas on the ass on her way to her adjoining bathroom to get changed.

* * *

"Finally." He yelled at her as he saw her walking towards the car.

"Finally." She mocked him while buckling her seatbelt. "Let's go."

* * *

Peyton walked up the familiar hallway for what felt like the hundredth time today and saw a familiar figure leaning against her locker, obviously waiting for her. Smiling, she moved net to him and bumped him out of the way with her hip so she could open the locker.

"Want to get out of here?" Lucas leant over to whisper in her ear. Peyton quickly glanced at him before returning to her locker.

"And cut class with you?" Peyton asked innocently.

"No I was talking about cutting class with Santa Claus." He told her sarcastically. "Come on, come with me. School is so boring!" he whined.

"Sorry babe, I can't. History test." She smiled apologetically at him as she held up her notebook. "And besides your mum would murder you. You're supposed to be setting an example for the 'rebellious Sawyer girl' remember?" She reminded him as she quoted what his mum had said the other day.

"So we just won't go near the cafe. Please?" He pouted.

Peyton adamantly shook her head as she returned her focus to her locker, making sure she was exchanging the correct books. Lucas smiled mischievously as he reached out to poke her sides in an attempt to tickle her. It worked as she yelped slightly, hitting his hands away.

"You know you want to." Lucas pushed as he reached for her again, tickling her in all the places only he knew about until she was falling into him with laughter. Noticing the glances they were getting from nearby students, Peyton pushed Lucas away and straightened her shirt. She turned back to her locker but since she couldn't think of anything else she needed, she closed and locked it before walking away. She didn't get very far though as Lucas grabbed her wrist, pulling her against him. Peyton pushed him away and took a step backwards creating distance between them.

"Lucas we don't want people getting the wrong idea about us." She whispered as she glanced at the nearby students who were obviously trying not to watch the two interact.

Lucas scoffed. "Like they would believe I'd date you." He teased. "I just want to get out of here." He returned to pouting.

"Stop whining, that's my job." Peyton reprimanded him. "We have lunch now anyway. I'm sure even you could sit through _that_."

"But what about after that?" Lucas sighed as he threw his arm around Peyton's shoulder and leant on her as she led him outside for lunch.

"Than after," she began slowly as if explaining to a young child, "You go to class and you listen and take notes and then you emerge all happy because you know you learnt something."

"Ha Ha, you're so funny." He deadpanned. "Smart ass." He muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!" she scolded him as she swatted him playfully in the ribs.

"You were meant to." Lucas shrugged. "I can't believe you won't cut with me. What sort of friend are you?"

"Poor baby." She pinched his cheeks with mock sympathy. Lucas groaned seeing that Peyton wasn't going to give in.

"Fine, fine. But you have to make it up to me."

"Luke, we've talked about this. I'm not going to sleep with you." She mock whispered as she purposefully said it loud enough for people nearby to eye them suspiciously.

"Like I'd want to. Look, all I'm asking is that you come out with me tonight." Lucas propositioned as the two wandered out into the courtyard to find a spare table. Peyton glanced over her shoulder at him guiltily.

"Sorry." She quickly apologised at seeing his shocked and hurt expression.

"Wow, this situation just keeps getting better and better." Lucas sighed as he sat down, Peyton taking a seat across from him.

"I know, but I really can't. I already made plans for tonight. Besides, isn't there some Steinbeck novel you want to read for the _hundredth_ time?"

Lucas merely glared at her while he continued to sit there and sulk, picking at his sandwich. The two sat in silence for a while and Peyton was starting to think that Lucas had dropped the subject.

"So where are you going?" Lucas finally piped up, glancing at Peyton.

"When?" she asked him, being caught off guard at his sudden voice.

"Tonight. You know when you're ditching me." He explained.

"Oh um, Rachel asked me to stop by at this party that she's having. It's not a big deal."

"Rachel? As in Rachel Gattina?" Lucas asked shocked.

"Yep that's the one." Peyton replied uncomfortable.

"Right." Lucas sighed as he returned to playing with his food.

"Okay, what?" Peyton asked exasperated at his sudden attitude.

"Nothing." He grumbled in reply.

"No, it's not nothing. You can't ask me something, using _that_ tone, and then just drop the subject. What's wrong with Rachel Gattina?"

Lucas sighed before answering. "You know what happens at her parties right?"

"Yes dad." Peyton answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure I can take care of myself."

"Well if you're sure." Lucas spoke bitterly. It was now Peyton's turn to sigh.

"What is up with you?"

"I don't like the idea of you going to this party. I mean how many people will you know there? What are you even going to do?"

"Get drunk and get impregnated, what else?" Peyton told him jokingly. However, Lucas wasn't laughing.

"That's it, I'm coming with you."

Peyton suddenly stood from the table and when Lucas looked into her green eyes, he could see the flashes of fury and could sense the anger in her stance.

"No. You're not." She hissed, trying not to draw attention to herself in the crowded courtyard. "I will not let you ruin this for me. I'm going to start acting my age and if I make mistakes so be it, you can't always be there to save me."

"Somebody's got to." Lucas replied as he quickly bowed his head.

"Just please be happy for me." Peyton whispered as she left him sitting there by himself.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Hey thanks heaps for all the reviews. You guys are fantastic and have said some really nice things. I just hope I don't disappoint.

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you feel you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

"No, no, no!" Peyton yelled frustrated as she rifled through the clothes in the drawer. It was now 7pm and she was supposed to be at Rachel's just after 7 but she still hadn't found anything to wear. Since she wasn't sure how she was supposed to dress, she had settled on wearing her dark skinny leg jeans but she couldn't find a top to go with it which left her running around her room in the jeans and a black bra. Peyton held a casual dress up to her thin frame, contemplating if she should change her entire outfit.

"No." She heard from the doorway. Startled, Peyton looked over to find Lucas leaning against the doorframe. Peyton sighed as she went back to her search in the drawers.

"Come to give me another lecture?" she asked, prompting Lucas to shake his head.

"I've come to apologise but since you're busy, I'll just come back later." He turned to leave before she called him back into the room.

"No, no. I'm already late, a few more minutes won't hurt." She waved him in as he took a seat at the end of her bed while she remained where he was, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm sorry I acted like a jerk at school today. I really am happy for you, at least one of us has a social life." Lucas admitted as they both chuckled.

"Well I suppose I'll forgive you." Peyton pretended to contemplate. "I always forgive you don't I? Just like I forgave you when you broke my first Led Zeppelin vinyl because of your big hoofs, like I forgive you when you call me a bitch for the hundredth time."

"I haven't called you a bitch that many time." Lucas protested. Peyton raised one eyebrow as if to say "yes you have" before she turned back to finish finding a top to wear. "And it's not my fault you left the Led Zeppelin vinyl just lying in the middle of the floor." Lucas finished.

Peyton ignored him as she continued to rifle through the drawer, only seeing the same tops she had been looking at all afternoon.

"So I thought of a way you could make this whole thing up to me." Lucas began as he lay down on the bed listening to Peyton's movements.

"What whole thing?" she asked distractedly.

"This.' He gestured around the room. "The party."

"Oh." She uttered, turning to face him. Lucas continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"So since you're busy tonight, and by the way that now makes two things you have to make –"

"You're a guy right?" Peyton interrupted, looking curiously at Lucas. Lucas stopped and looked at her weird, partly because she had interrupted and partly because she had asked a stupid question.

"Well last I checked, yeah." Lucas replied confused.

"Right, so which one do you like better?" Peyton asked holding up multiple tops that all looked the same to Lucas. As Lucas went to open his mouth, Peyton continued quickly. "Well not that you like _personally_ since we've already established I don't care what you think, but think like a guy."

Lucas gave Peyton a frustrated glance as he pointed out a random top. Peyton looked over his choice, an unsure look on her face.

"Really?"

"Really." Lucas nodded. "So as I was saying you now have two things to make up to me. This whole party fiasco and because you wouldn't –"

"I'm glad you came over Luke." Peyton once again interrupted. "I mean, if you hadn't I would have resorted to going to the party wearing this." She commented pointing down at her attire. Suddenly, Peyton realised exactly what she _wasn't_ wearing and quickly wrapped her arms around herself trying to cover her undressed state. Noticing Lucas' smirk, Peyton dropped her arms figuring he had seen it all already.

"Well thanks for letting me walk around half-dressed here Lucas!" she reprimanded. He laughed at her obvious embarrassment. "You could have said something." She commented as she pulled the top he'd chosen over her head.

"Hey I didn't mind." Lucas shrugged.

"Obviously." Peyton rolled her eyes as she laughed and straightened her top, checking her reflection in the mirror. Still unsure, she turned to face him.

"So?" she asked as she did a little twirl and watched as he checked her out. Lucas gave a nod of approval.

"Okay, well I'm glad that there's no, whatever, between us and now that it's sorted out, you can go, because I have to leave." Peyton smiled sweetly as she picked up her clutch and went to leave the room. Lucas remained where he was and reached out to pull Peyton back onto the bed with him.

"Yes?" Peyton asked him reluctantly. Lucas answered her with a puppy dog look.

"What?" she asked laughing.

"I'm bored." Lucas complained as he tugged on her curls.

"And?" she looked at him knowingly. Lucas grinned at her.

"Do you think Rachel would mind if there was one more person at her party?"

"Oh so now you _want_ to come to the party you so eloquently told me I shouldn't be going to?"

Lucas cleared his throat, seemingly uncomfortable. "Well yeah."

Peyton scoffed.

"Come on, I'm bored I have nothing to do seeing as you ditched me." Lucas pointed out.

"I didn't ditch you!" Peyton protested. "You know we don't have to be attached at the hip. You can have your friends and I can have my friends."

"But where's the fun in that?" Lucas whined as he reinforced the puppy dog look.

"Lucas!" Peyton warned.

"Peyton!" Lucas mimicked back. Peyton sighed as she moved off the bed, holding out her hands for Lucas to come with her. Happily, Lucas pulled her out the door.

"I was going to ask you for a lift anyway." Peyton told him, as they both laughed before slamming the door behind them.

* * *

Peyton and Lucas walked up onto the porch of the large double storey house. Lucas watched on amused as Peyton continued to fuss over straightening her top and fluffing her curls. As Lucas reached out to open the door, it opened before them and three guys they faintly recognised went to THH stumbled out as Rachel stood behind them yelling at them to not come back. Lucas quickly pulled Peyton out of the way as the three guys starting falling over each other as they left, laughing loudly and obviously drunk. In an attempt to take Peyton with them, one of the guys grabbed her upper arm however Peyton managed to wiggle free from his grasp and stood next to Lucas at the door. Rachel had already turned to move back inside the house so Peyton yelled out.

"Hey Rachel."

Rachel turned at the sound of her name to find the two blondes in the doorway.

"Peyton, hey, I was starting to think you weren't coming." Rachel commented as she quickly glanced down at her watch. Peyton shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah sorry I'm late, I had to... uh-" While Peyton stumbled over her apology, Rachel noticed Lucas standing off to the side.

"Well if it isn't Lucas Scott." Rachel greeted. "I should have assumed that Peyton would bring her boyfriend."

"We're just friends." Lucas interjected quickly.

"If that's your story." Rachel replied, rolling her eyes as she motioned for them to follow her into the house.

"We're just friends." Peyton mumbled as she glared at Lucas' back.

* * *

About an hour into the party, Lucas and Peyton had found a group of people they knew from around school and were currently sitting with them, each with a drink in their hand. While Lucas' beer was still almost three quarters full, Peyton was just finishing off her drink and upon noticing Lucas' full beer, took it off of him and downed it in one gulp. Suddenly a song came on that Peyton recognised and she moved to where Lucas was sitting, attempting to pull him up for a dance.

"I can't dance." Lucas protested as he used his weight to pull himself back into his seat. Peyton simply shrugged as she moved to the make shift dance area where she quickly found two other guys to dance with. The deep RnB beats meant Peyton was grinding with the two newcomers and neither of the guys seemed to mind as they moved all around Peyton. Lucas watched the scene, an angry glint entering his pupils, until he couldn't stand it anymore and walked over to Peyton before hauling her into a nearby room.

"What the hell was that?!" Lucas yelled frustrated at her behaviour.

"What was what?" Peyton replied innocently, playing with the collar of his shirt. Lucas looked at her incredulously before moving as close as possible and imitating her grinding gestures. Peyton stepped away with a roll of her eyes.

"I was just dancing." She defended herself. "You should try having some fun."

"And how am I meant to have any fun when I'm constantly looking out for you?"

Peyton's jaw dropped as she stared at him.

"I didn't ask you to come here tonight, Luke. In fact if I remember correctly, you practically begged me to come. Just go home Lucas, I can take care of myself." Peyton sighed as she turned to leave but after only a few steps, she tripped over her own feet. Instead of feeling the hard floor beneath her, she fell into Lucas' arms as he stepped up and caught her. Lucas assisted her back to their original seats.

"Yeah I can see how you are taking great care of yourself. Maybe I should go home and leave you here for dead." Lucas grumbled as he started to leave before Peyton pulled him back and sat him down on the couch beside her.

"No! I'm sorry. Please stay." Peyton accentuated her puppy dog look as she begged Lucas to stay with her.

"You're just lucky I care so much." Lucas threw an arm over her shoulder. Peyton sighed loudly causing Lucas to look at her in an unspoken question of 'what?'.

"It's just this town sucks, you know. There's nothing to do in Tree Hill. All I do is spend all of my time with you, well occasionally there's Haley and Nathan."

"Remind me to tell them how much you appreciate their company." Lucas interrupted sarcastically.

"It's not that." Peyton responded sadly, her inebriated state not recognising the sarcasm. "I just need something more exciting, ooh like getting hit by a car or... ooh amnesia." Peyton's face lit up as she rattled off her ideas.

"I think you're being a bit morbid there, Peyt." Lucas chuckled.

"No, I said _exciting_ not _morbid_. Keep up with the conversation." Peyton frowned at him. "Just imagine the drama it would cause, not remembering anything, being able to start over."

"But then you wouldn't remember your parents, your friends, me. It could be very frustrating not being able to remember someone as cool as me." Lucas smirked.

"Oh don't worry Luke, I could never forget you." Peyton assured him, patting his cheek affectionately. Lucas chuckled.

"Peyt, it doesn't exactly work that way. You can't _choose_ who you remember. And what if I came and told you that we were madly in love and had been dating for years."

"Like I'd believe that!" Peyton protested, screwing her face in disgust. Lucas frowned.

"Fine, be that way."

Peyton curled into Lucas' side as the two drifted into a comfortable silence. That is until Peyton spotted a hot guy across the room. She couldn't tell who it was, but he was talking to a group of people that she recognised from the varsity basketball team. She remembered Nathan mentioning them once or twice.

"Hey Luke, see that guy over there." Peyton asked as she pointed him out.

"You mean the one surrounded by all of his jock friends?" Lucas asked bitterly. Peyton turned to face him.

"You know, they could have been _your_ jock friends if you had just listened to Nathan and joined the Ravens."

"Not the point." Lucas ended the conversation. "Anyway, what about him?"

"Well," Peyton began, "Do you think he's cute?" she asked shyly.

"Hmm, seeing as I don't swing that way Peyt, I think you would be better off asking someone with breasts." Lucas joked, causing Peyton to swat him on the arm.

"Try to be serious, would you? Okay, let me ask it a different way. Say _I_ thought he was cute, would you approve?" Lucas glanced back at the supposed "hot guy".

"I suppose he'd be okay for you." Lucas shrugged. Peyton cocked an eyebrow.

"So he wouldn't be okay for someone else?"

"Oh no, he'd be _perfect_ for someone else, but for you, just okay." Lucas smiled affectionately over at her. Peyton returned the smile.

"I'm going to go make out with him." Peyton whispered. Lucas was glad he hadn't been drinking otherwise it would be all over both of them at this point.

"Right, and where did that come from?"

"From me." Peyton explained simply. "Wish me luck."

"But..." Lucas attempted to protest as he watched Peyton walk straight up to the jock and tap him on the shoulder. As soon as he turned to face Peyton, she wasted no time with introductions as she leant up and placed her lips on his. As soon as the kiss turned from something innocent to something bordering on the two finding a room, Lucas was behind her and pulling her away and towards the exit. A quick glance over his shoulder showed him the jock had simply returned to his previous conversation, no qualms about the sudden kiss from Peyton.

"What was that?" Lucas whispered angrily.

"What did it look like?" Peyton shrugged. "It's not like you didn't know about it, I said I wanted to."

Lucas simply shook his head as he ushered her out of the house. Peyton suddenly realised her surroundings.

"Wait, where are we going? The party is this way." She attempted to turn and head back to the house.

"We're going home." Lucas insisted.

"I don't think so buddy." Peyton protested as she started pulling him in the other direction. Lucas sighed and easily picked up Peyton so she was hanging over his shoulder. He ignored her as she started hitting his back and wriggling her legs trying to squirm out of his strong hold.

"Put. Me. Down." She accented each word with a punch as she yelled to be put down. A few people scattered on the lawn turned at the commotion, but they ignored it seeing it was just Lucas and Peyton. They finally reached his car and he opened the passenger door as he unceremoniously threw her in. Peyton sat with her arms crossed, pouting, as Lucas settled into the driver's seat.

"Well that was mature." Lucas mumbled as he started the engine.

"I was just having fun." Peyton huffed, turning to look out the window. As the two made the drive home, Peyton turned to face Lucas with the intention of apologising that is until she saw the small smile on his face.

"Oh my god, you are so enjoying this right now." Peyton accused as she hit him none too lightly on the arm. "Yeah some best friend you are Lucas!"

"You punch like a girl." Lucas laughed loudly.

"Dude, I am a girl. You smell like a guy." She tried to insult, only causing Lucas to laugh harder.

"You must have had a lot to drink girlie, you're not your usual offensive self. That comeback was lame."

"Shut up." Peyton retorted, hitting him again.

"Ow!" Lucas complained, shifting away from her.

"Did you just say 'Ow'?" Peyton asked triumphantly.

"I was just humouring you."

* * *

As he pulled his car into the driveway, Lucas turned to let Peyton know she could head over to her house, only to find her fast asleep, curled up against the door. Lucas quietly exited the car and made his way to the passenger door, slowly opening it so as not to disturb her before gently lifting her and making his way over to her house. He finally made it up to her room and lay her on the bed, grateful he hadn't managed to wake her. As he was taking off her shoes and covering her with a nearby blanket, he heard her voice.

"Luke?" she whispered, still not opening her eyes.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

"Stay." She directed more than asked. Lucas just smiled as he crawled into the bed beside her. He lay on his back as he looked up at the ceiling, at which point Peyton moved to curl into his side as she lay her head on his shoulder.

"Goodnight Peyt." Lucas quietly told her as he closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep. A few seconds later, he felt a tapping on his chest. Opening his eyes, he glanced down to see Peyton was tapping with her small hand, all the while keeping her eyes closed.

"What are you doing?" Lucas chuckled.

"I was tapping out your heartbeat." Peyton replied simply, continuing to tap out the rhythm. Lucas simply pulled her closer, closing his eyes again.

"Goodnight Luke. I love you." Peyton mumbled.

"Love you too." Lucas replied and soon they were both asleep.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews. I know it seems like this story is moving very slowly, but just a little more LP fluffy friendship and then the drama starts.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you think you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

The next morning, the sun shone brightly into the room. Peyton stirred as the sun stretched across her face, and slowly opening her eyes, squinted into the bright light. Attempting to shift onto her back, she found she was hindered by a solid body. Glancing over her shoulder she found Lucas fast asleep as he lay directly behind her on his side. Peyton couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she watched him sleeping, amused at how he looked cute and innocent with his hair all tousled, he could have probably passed for a five year old. Peyton softly laughed to herself as she quietly got out of bed, careful not to wake her sleeping partner. Before leaving the room, Peyton made sure to cover Lucas more fully with the blanket that was completely jumbled on her side, obviously from her hogging them all night, and kissing him lightly on the cheek, she made her way downstairs.

* * *

Lucas threw an arm over his eyes as the bright morning sun eventually stirred him from sleep. Finally adjusting to the new brightness, Lucas removed his arm and glanced tiredly around the room. He could already sense Peyton wasn't in the bed next to him and upon inspection, he could also tell she was not even in the same room as him. With confusion crossing his features, he sat up letting the blanket that was covering him fall down to him waist. The confusion didn't last long when he got his first whiff of bacon and eggs. Suddenly worried, Lucas jumped out of bed and raced downstairs to the kitchen. As he skidded into the kitchen, he quickly made his way to Peyton's side as he watched her flipping eggs.

"Okay, no need to panic. I'm sure I can salvage whatever disaster you've created. Just tell me you haven't been cooking for long." Lucas rambled as he took the spatula from Peyton and shooed her away from the stovetop.

Peyton glared at him as she stepped to the side, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Hey I take offense to that!" she protested. "I can cook. You just don't give me the chance."

"So you really did cook?" Lucas turned to her incredulously as he took in the perfectly shaped eggs he was watching.

"Well, no. Haley came around this morning and put them on for me. Surprisingly, she has no faith in my cooking skills either."

Lucas laughed as he handed Peyton the loaf of bread.

"I'm sure you can at least not manage to ruin the toast." Lucas pointed to the toaster as he added the bacon to the frying pan as the eggs continued cooking. Peyton sighed as she turned to her delegated breakfast duty.

"So what made you con Haley into helping you pretend you cooked breakfast for me this morning?" Lucas asked as they sat down at the kitchen table with a plate each.

"Well, I kind of don't really remember last night, but I think I can guess that I owe you a thank you. Hence, breakfast!" Peyton indicated to the spread in front of them.

"Yeah I guess you do owe me one seeing as I saved you from escaping upstairs to have that menage-a-trois with two of the guys from school – oh wait, I think one of them was a girl." Lucas tried to hide the smile as he continued. "But even though I stopped you from doing that, I couldn't stop you from running naked through the house. Oh and you also professed your undying love for me. Thanks for that by the way." He finished with a straight face as he continued eating his breakfast. Peyton sat frozen across from him until she noticed the small smirk he couldn't hide.

"You're an ass!" Peyton exclaimed as she threw a bit of toast at him, causing Lucas to erupt into loud laughter.

"Well I had to make something up, you were so dull. You did nothing exciting at all." Lucas watched as Peyton sighed in relief before continuing. "Oh except kiss that total stranger." Peyton sarcastically laughed as she threw some more toast.

"Hey!" Lucas protested. "I didn't make that bit up."

"Wait, what?" Peyton asked in shock.

Lucas shrugged. "Don't worry, it wasn't that bad. If it makes you feel any better, it looked like the guy liked it."

"Don't worry?" Peyton repeated in disbelief. "Lucas, I kissed a total stranger!" she cried.

"Calm down. I don't think he even goes to our school, so you'll never see him again." Lucas calmly explained as he continued with his breakfast.

"Are you sure?" Peyton asked clearly still worried.

"Positive." Lucas assured her. "Besides even if you did see him, you can just call me and I will sort him out."

Peyton scoffed as she collected their plates to take them to the sink.

"Right." She agreed sarcastically. Lucas watched her with a look of mock hurt.

"So I've decided how you can make it up to me." Lucas suddenly declared.

"Make what up to you?" Peyton asked distractedly as she rinsed off the plates.

"Remember, you ditched me earlier?"

"What? I didn't end up ditching you. You came with me to the party remember." Peyton explained as she returned to the seat across from him.

"And look how well that turned out." Lucas commented.

"Whatever." Peyton brushed it aside. "I would be hanging out with you today anyway. So what do you want to do?"

"Let's go to the beach." Lucas offered.

"The beach?" Peyton repeated.

"The beach." He confirmed.

Peyton's face lit up with a wide smile. "It's about time you came up with a good idea." Peyton yelled as she raced upstairs to get her things together.

* * *

Half an hour later, Peyton was dressed for the beach in a dark blue bikini that she had paired with a denim skirt and red singlet. Lucas entered her room also dressed for the beach and expected Peyton to be ready to leave when he saw she was changed. However she was currently running frantically around her room obviously searching for something. Lucas knocked on the door hoping to get her attention.

"Hello." He called as he walked further into the room. Peyton ignored him as she raced past him towards her adjoining bathroom. After hearing her rustle around in the drawers for a few seconds, he noticed her running back into her room to search in the same places he could guarantee she had already searched in before. Lucas walked over to her and took her by the shoulders, stilling her movements.

"Whoa, calm down." Lucas told her. "What are you looking for?"

"Uh." Peyton groaned as she took a seat at the end of her bed. "Well you know that necklace I always wear?"

"Yeah, the seven rings-" Lucas started to explain before Peyton interrupted.

"Of luck." She finished for him. "Right. Well they're not very lucky at the moment because they have gotten themselves lost."

"How did a necklace get itself lost?" Lucas asked confused. Peyton glared at him.

"Okay, so maybe, technically, it's my fault, but I don't care. It's gone and I can't find it!" she cried frustrated.

"Alright, well we'll find them." Lucas declared as he looked around the room and easily spotted the necklace beneath some papers on her desk.

"Peyt." Lucas called teasingly as he held the chain out. Peyton quickly turned towards him and was delighted to see the necklace dangling from his fingers.

"Thank you!" she yelled as she grabbed the item and skipped out of her room, leaving Lucas to follow behind her laughing to himself.

* * *

Lucas and Peyton pulled up at the beach and wandered down to an empty area. After setting up their towels, Lucas announced that they were going to have a sandcastle making competition. Peyton reluctantly agreed because she really had no idea what she was doing and just started piling sand up until it resembled a small hill. Lucas looked over at her creation and laughed quietly. Peyton could see that he had actually achieved something that resembled a castle, complete with turrets on top and a moat.

"For an artist, you kind of suck at this competition. I do believe I am the obvious winner." Lucas boasted as he brushed the sand off his hands. With an evil glint in her eye, Peyton approached the sandcastle and before Lucas could react, she took a large jump and landed on top of it, ruining his creation. Peyton could only laugh as Lucas frowned.

"Oops." She innocently shrugged as she moved to sit on her towel.

"You're such a sore loser." Lucas commented, shaking his head sadly.

"Am not!' Peyton disagreed loudly.

"Are too!" Lucas argued back as he reached over and began tickling her.

"Am not! Am not! Am not!" Peyton cried as she tried to squirm away from Lucas only giving him better access as he continued his tickle attack. Peyton was close to tears as she yelled at him to stop.

"Just admit that you're a sore loser, Peyt, and I'll stop."

"Never!" she proclaimed.

"Say it." Lucas demanded, not once stopping his attack.

"No!" she shouted at him.

"Fine then." Lucas shrugged stopping his tickling attack and suddenly picking her up bridle style.

"What are you doing?" Peyton asked confused. Lucas ignored her and that was when she noticed he was carrying her towards the water's edge.

"Lucas!" Peyton protested. "Luke! No, no, no!"

"Just say it Peyt. Four little words." Lucas prompted as he held her above the water he was now standing in waist deep.

"You really suck, Luke?" Peyton tried. "Ahh!" Peyton screamed as Lucas made to drop her, catching her at the last minute before she could get wet.

"Peyton, why are you making this so difficult? You only have to say it."

"Fine. I'm a sore loser." Peyton finally gave in.

"Now see, that wasn't so hard." Lucas smiled. "But unfortunately, you took too long." Lucas shook his head sadly as he promptly dropped Peyton into the cold water. She quickly resurfaced, spluttering while wiping the water from her face. She noticed Lucas standing near her, laughing loudly and before he could notice she attacked him, forcing him into the water. Soon, the two were engaged in an all out water fight.

* * *

Lucas and Peyton had eventually made it back to the beach and were currently lying on their towels under the warm sun. Peyton appeared relaxed as she listened to her ipod, sunglasses on. However, Lucas sat beside her looking very restless. Without turning her head, Peyton spoke.

"What's wrong?" Lucas looked over at her.

"What make you think something is wrong?"

"Because I can tell you're sitting there on your towel, restless, waiting for me to acknowledge you."

"How do you know that? You can't even see me."

'I have my ways." Peyton smirked. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing." Lucas replied dejectedly.

"Right. " Peyton was unconvinced. "Spill."

"Can't we do something fun?" Lucas sighed.

"Fine." Peyton reluctantly agreed as she removed her ipod and sat up facing Lucas. "What do you want to do?"

"No idea, but at least it got you up and talking to me." Lucas smirked and he knew Peyton was rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses. Peyton scoffed as she lay back down in her original position. Lucas glanced around at the crowded beach, noticing there was only a handful of people on the sand with the majority in the water. Lucas glanced mischievously at Peyton who didn't notice.

"Oh my god, Peyt!" he exclaimed, pointing down the beach. "There's that guy you kissed last night." Peyton bolted upright, scanning the area in which Lucas was pointing.

"Who? What? Where?" she asked frantically.

"Made you look." Lucas chuckled before Peyton reached over and slapped him across his bare chest.

"Not funny." Peyton deadpanned.

"Sorry." Lucas apologised but still laughing. Peyton tried once again to sun herself under the warm sun, ipod and sunglasses securely in place. Lucas glanced down at her, admiring her sun kissed body and blonde curls as they fanned around her head like a halo. Sighing, Lucas scanned the beach again until he spotted a group of four girls, probably around his and Peyton's age, as they were just arriving and setting up. He continued to watch them as they failed to notice him. One of the girls must have made a humorous comment as all four girls laughed loudly with each other, as Lucas couldn't tear his gaze away from one particular girl. The girl had straight brunette locks that seemed to shine underneath the sun. Lucas could see she was definitely shorter than him, maybe by a head or so, definitely shorter than Peyton and even with the distance, he could see the hint of dimples as she joked with her friends. Above all though, Lucas couldn't believe the amazing beach body she had as he watched her applying sunscreen before she was dragged into the water by her friends. Shaking his head in hopes of clearing his muddled thought, Lucas glanced back to Peyton lying beside him. Now she had a fantastic beach body and of course he was in love with her, had been for the past ten years since he spotted her blonde curls in pre-school. Nothing had ever happened between them though, they were merely best friends. She couldn't see it and he doubted she ever would.

_Maybe it's time to move on_. Lucas thought as he scanned the water for the brunette he had spotted earlier. _Maybe_. Lucas contemplated as he glanced at the now sleeping Peyton.

* * *

At Lucas' car, Peyton was packing away the beach gear as Lucas continued to stare out at the beach.

"Ready?" Peyton called as she moved to the passenger side of the car.

"Sure." Lucas replied as he turned to her with a grin. Peyton smiled back but it slowly faded as she noticed four giggling girls approaching Lucas.

"Excuse me?" One of the girls asked as she tapped Lucas on the shoulder. Lucas shot Peyton a confused look before turning to the voice. Internally, his mouth dropped in shock as he recognised the four girls in front of him as the group he had been watching as they had arrived. Gaining his composure, he turned on the charm.

"Yes?" He politely asked, keeping his eyes on the brunette who stood at the back of the group. Peyton rolled her eyes impatiently as she moved into the car, not wanting to witness the exchange.

"So, did you happen to notice us when we arrived earlier?" The girl, a fiery redhead, that had first spoken continued the conversation. "Or more specifically, did you notice my friend here?" Suddenly, Lucas found himself standing in front of the brunette he had been checking out, as two of her friends pushed her forward. While the brunette wasn't shy, she did look a little annoyed at the sudden attention. Lucas smiled down at her confused. He had been right, she was about a head shorter than him. Before he could introduce himself, one of her blonde friends spoke.

"And don't deny it. We saw you checking her out."

Lucas couldn't help the slight blush that crept up his cheeks as he realised he had been caught. The girls giggled in front of him.

"Well, you see-" Lucas stammered.

"I don't think your girlfriend over there would appreciate you checking out someone else." The redhead spoke again as she indicated Peyton sitting impatiently in his car. At hearing this comment, Peyton popped her head out of the window.

"No, we're not dating." She explained quickly. Lucas turned to Peyton with a glare which she merely shrugged off as she returned back to her seat. Another friend opened her mouth as if to say something more, before the brunette Lucas had admired stopped her.

"Look, my name is Brooke, and since you don't have a girlfriend, maybe you can give me a call sometime?" Brooke confidently spoke as she took Lucas' hand and wrote her number across his palm.

"Bye." She left him with a smile as the four girls walked away. Lucas watched them walk away as he focused on the electric shock he felt at her touch on his hand. Suddenly, the car horn sounded behind him, causing him to jump in fright.

"Can we go?" Peyton asked impatiently.

"Okay, okay." Lucas called back to her as he jumped into the driver's seat and peeled out.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks so much for the reviews. I'm glad you're all enjoying it! I love your ideas for different scenarios you all think should be in this fic, but sorry I'm not that good of a writer, so what's coming is very simple...

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you think you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

"She's the best, Peyt. I think you two would be really good friends." Lucas was telling Peyton all about the girl he met at the beach, Brooke, during lunch at school.

"I'm sure we would." Peyton mumbled sarcastically.

"I mean, she's smart and funny and _so_ gorgeous. I did tell you what happened when I ran her, didn't I?" Peyton opened her mouth to answer yes before Lucas merely continued as if he didn't expect an answer.

"Well, I rang and she was so happy to hear from me. Then I didn't even know what to say, I was a mess."

"You did the whole squinting thing, didn't you?" Peyton interrupted with a joke. Lucas continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"But after only a few minutes, we clicked and I invited her to the movies."

"I know, Lucas, you've told me five times already." Peyton rolled her eyes as she stabbed at her salad.

"I did?" Lucas looked confused. "Well, did I tell you about what happened when we got to the movies? So I let her pick the film and we ended up seeing this completely boring chick flick, but that was okay, because the opening credits hadn't even finished and we were already making out." Lucas grinned as he regaled Peyton with the tale of his and Brooke's date.

"Wait, you two made out through the whole movie?" Peyton asked shocked.

"Yeah, it was nice. Why?" Lucas questioned when he noticed the look on Peyton's face. Peyton shrugged and returned to staring at her salad.

"Nothing. I just didn't realise you were like that."

Lucas shrugged off the comment as he started speaking again.

"But I haven't told you the best bit-"

"You mean there's something better than the movie length make out session?" Peyton interrupted with sarcasm.

"Yes." Lucas answered like it was obvious. "Well you know how I've always said I wanted to find that connection with the person I was dating, like she's my best friend? I've found it with Brooke."

Peyton looked up at him quickly.

"What?" she uttered confused.

"You heard me. I feel like Brooke and I really could be best friends, you know, which is weird since you're my best friend as well we just don't make out at the movies." Lucas smiled cheekily at his joke. "And I've only known her for a week."

"Exactly, you've only known her for a week and already you're making out through entire movies and she's your new best friend." Peyton was starting to raise her voice. Lucas looked at her confused.

"I didn't say she was my new best friend. I said we _could_ be best friends."

"I fail to see the difference." Peyton mumbled to herself.

"Look, this has nothing to do with you. I have feelings for Brooke and I can tell her so many personal things and it's great. I think I finally found what I want in a relationship."

"You're right. This has nothing to do with me. So why are you telling me all about it?"

"Because contrary to what you are thinking right now, you're still my best friend and I want to talk to you about these things. I didn't realise there was a limit on what we could and couldn't talk about. Is it such a problem?" Lucas sighed.

"No, not at all." Peyton shot him a fake smile.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Lucas pushed.

"Nothing." Peyton muttered, not meeting his eyes. Lucas lifted her chin so she was facing him.

"Tell me." He prompted. Peyton gave in.

"Look, I just don't really feel like talking, well hearing, about Brooke every time I see you. I don't want to hear she's your best friend because _I'm_ supposed to be your best friend and I _really_ don't need to hear that you can tell her personal things, when I thought I was the one you came to about those things." Lucas smiled sympathetically at the girl across from him as he pulled her into a sideways hug.

"You are that person." Lucas reassure her. "There's just someone else now as well."

Peyton pulled away from him, shaking her head.

"Okay, this is going to sound really selfish, but I don't want there to be anyone else. I hardly see you now that you and Brooke are doing... whatever, and if she's suddenly your new best friend as well as being your girlfriend, you won't need me around."

"No, no, no. Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, you will always be my best _best_ friend. I have know you practically my whole life and nothing is going to change that."

"How can you be so sure?" Peyton asked, looking for reassurance. Lucas' face fell at the question. He didn't know what to tell her.

"See, you can't." Peyton stated, noticing Lucas' expression and understanding what it meant. Peyton stood from the table.

* * *

Peyton ran through the halls of the school, headed for the girls toilets. Tears were slowly making their way down her cheeks and she couldn't understand why, just that she needed to hide them. She should have known that her friendship with Lucas would end when they started dating other people, simply because they wouldn't need each other. Not to mention she doubted Brooke appreciated that fact that Lucas had a _female_ best friend. As Peyton raced around the corner, she failed to notice where she was going and ran straight into the petite frame of her other best friend, Haley.

"Oh my god, Peyton, what's happened?" Haley asked completely concerned at her friend's state. Peyton attempted to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Nothing, nothing." Peyton lied.

"Lucas?" Haley asked knowingly. Peyton looked up shocked.

"How did you-? Never mind. Yes, it has to do with Lucas, but it's nothing a good ice cream pigout won't solve."

"No, I believe ice cream pigouts only work after you've told your very supportive best friend what you're other usually supportive best friend has done.' Haley suggested as she started to lead Peyton into the girls toilets.

"Can we refer to him as _ex_ bestfriend?" Peyton asked quietly.

"What? No!" Haley immediately protested. "What happened?"

"He died." Peyton shrugged, trying to keep a straight face. Haley hit her on the shoulder.

"Don't even joke about that." Peyton sighed.

"It's just, you know he's been seeing Brooke? Well I haven't seen his much lately and I just think we're growing apart. Especially since she's now his new best friend."

"Harsh." Haley commented. "But I think there may be more to your little freak out."

"Like?" Peyton asked confused.

"Jealousy perhaps?" Haley suggested knowingly.

"Jealousy? Hardly!" Peyton scoffed as she replied quickly, maybe a little too quickly. "It's nothing like that. I just miss having him around and being able to talk to him and way he can make me laugh when I'm upset or when he comes around at just the right time because he knows I'm at home bored." Peyton rambled and Haley watched on amused.

"Sounds to me like you're missing the attributes of a boyfriend. Are you sure there is nothing going on between you and Lucas?"

Peyton shot Haley a warning glance.

"I'm sure, Haley."

"Peyton, seriously, you have to tell me now. Are you in love with Lucas?" Haley grabbed Peyton by the shoulders, staring at her seriously. Peyton opened her mouth to reply, but seemed to change her mind.

"I gotta go." Peyton told her friend as she left the toilets in a hurry, leaving Haley to watch her retreating figure concerned.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

I am shocked at the number of reviews I am still receiving for this fic. Seriously you guys are awesome and I'm glad you're all enjoying it.

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you think you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

Peyton was curled up on her bed, mindlessly doodling on a blank page in her sketch book. She hadn't talked to either Haley or Lucas since their conversations at school. She was sure Lucas didn't need her anymore, but what if she needed him? And Haley, what made her say that today? Okay, granted she usually made comments like that every day, but something about the way she said it made Peyton know she was serious this time. What was she supposed to do? Peyton closed her eyes tiredly as she shifted onto her back facing the ceiling, forgetting about her sketch. Suddenly, the silence of her room was pierced with the shrill ringing of her telephone. Sitting up, she reached over and grabbed the cell before answering.

"Hello?"

"It's me." Haley greeted.

"Hi." Peyton said as she flopped back onto the bed.

"Look, are you mad at me?" Haley asked hesitantly. Peyton sighed.

"No." She finally answered.

"Good. I'm really sorry for what I said before. You know I've always thought you and Lucas would make a cute couple." Peyton laughed at the comment as she glanced over at the photo frame that held a picture of her and Lucas smiling goofily up at the camera.

"Yeah, you're kind of obsessed." Peyton joked.

"So I'm wrong?" Haley questioned carefully.

"Definitely." Peyton replied a little hesitantly. Haley noticed but decided not to push it.

"So, what's going on with you and Lucas?"

"Just couldn't resist could you?" Peyton rolled her eyes. "It's nothing really. Maybe I was just overreacting before."

'Overreacting? To what?" Haley asked.

"This whole Lucas and Brooke thing. I mean, he's allowed to date, it's not like I own him or anything. I'm just his best friend, and really who thought that could last forever?"

"Firstly, you two are more than just best friends. No buts." Haley quickly added, knowing Peyton would protest. "And secondly, why can't it last forever? It should."

"No, it shouldn't. Life progressing is all about man and woman together romantically, not platonically."

"Wow, we're still in high school, who cares about _life progressing_?" Haley interjected. "And when did you start getting all philosophical? That's my job."

Peyton laughed at the last comment.

"Okay, so maybe we don't have to think that far ahead, but can't you see what I'm trying to say here?" Peyton moaned, exhausted with the conversation already.

"No, I can't.' Haley reasoned. "Peyton, if you're scared of losing Lucas, just tell him."

"I tried!" Peyton protested. "But I don't think I exactly have the right to ask him not to have a romantic life because I'm-"

"You're?" Haley prompted when she heard Peyton hesitate.

"Confused, okay I'm confused." Peyton blurted out.

"Wait, what's this about you being confused all of a sudden." Haley heard Peyton take a deep breath.

"I'm confused because I'm starting to believe what you said today was right." Peyton admitted.

"Run that by me again please?" Haley requested, confused with the turn of events.

"I just- Like I said I'm confused. Lucas and I were never meant to be more than friends, hence why it's been ten years and nothing has ever happened."

"Nothing ever happened?" Haley asked amazed. "Hello, we're talking about years of being attached at the hip, knowing everything the other was thinking, sharing personal jokes no one else can understand and protecting the other from anything and everything. That's not nothing, that's history; a history I'm sure most people have only ever dreamed about." Haley rambled.

"It's not my fault Lucas has a hero complex." Peyton argued. "And thanks, that just made me feel so much better about what I'm losing here."

Haley scoffed. "I told you, you're not losing anything. Just tell Lucas exactly what I just told you."

"And what exactly did you just tell me?" Peyton asked confused.

"That you two simply cannot exist without the other. That you have a history that should only get stronger and not be ripped apart by some fake, bubbly brunette who he has only know for a few days."

"Meow!" Peyton laughed at Haley's sudden feistiness. "Have you even met Brooke?"

"Well no." Haley admitted. "But I'm sure she's horrible."

"Haley, why couldn't you have told me all of this sooner."

"Would you have believed me?" Haley asked though she already knew the answer.

"No." Peyton admitted. "But can I really just come out and tell him all of that? I mean, he does have Brooke now, and he seems happy. I don't want to ruin that for him. And of course, what if he doesn't feel the same way? What if I ruin the friendship and the so called history we have?" Peyton panicked.

"Peyton, calm down. After everything you two have been through, I'm sure you guys can get through this. Not that you have anything to worry about. I'm sure he can see what you two have, it's pretty obvious. Just sit him down and explain it. It'll be fine. No it will be better than fine, it'll be great!"

"I don't know." Peyton replied warily.

"Yes you do." Haley brushed off Peyton's insecurities. "And besides, you two can finally get rid of all that sexual tension you've been carrying around for years."

"We don't have sexual tension!" Peyton protested, trying not to laugh at the thought.

"Right, whatever you say." Haley rolled her eyes sarcastically. "So the next time you see Lucas-"

"I'll tell him." Peyton promised.

* * *

Peyton ventured down into the kitchen in search of something chocolatey. Looking in her fridge she saw nothing appealing and turned to search her cupboards, except she bumped into none other than Lucas.

"What are you doing here?" Peyton questioned him as she went to move past him on her way to the cupboard. Lucas grabbed her upper arm to still her from further movement and turned her to face him.

"We need to talk." He said simply.

"About what exactly?" Peyton tried to play dumb, not wanting to get into this conversation.

"You know exactly about what, Peyt, don't start this with me."

Peyton managed to pull her arm from him and settled herself against a nearby cupboard, looking directly at him.

"Well, you wanted to talk, so talk." Peyton prompted.

"I want to apologise." Lucas started.

"For what?" Peyton sighed defeated. "I figured I should be the one apologising for getting so upset over something so small."

"No, I need to apologise for not reassuring you that we'll always be best friends and I'll always need you in my life."

"You wouldn't have had to make those reassurances if I hadn't overreacted to all of this." Peyton argued

"Well, I should be doing it anyway. No matter who comes in and out of my life, you'll always be a constant. You were the first important female in my life – other than my mum." They both laughed at the comment. "So don't think I'm going anywhere without you." Peyton couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face.

"Okay, so since you apologised and I accepted your apology, it can be my turn to apologise. I'm sorry for trying to tell you what to do with your life and who can be in it." Peyton admitted sheepishly.

"Don't be sorry, sometimes I need someone to do that for me."Lucas and Peyton moved towards each other for a long awaited hug. When Lucas eventually pulled away, Peyton remembered what she had promised Haley on the phone.

"Lucas."

"Peyton."

They both spoke simultaneously.

"What were you going to say?' Peyton pointed at him.

"No, you were going to say something." Lucas offered.

"It can wait. You came over here so what do you have to tell me?" Peyton indicated he should continue. Lucas' face lit up.

"So I talked to Brooke this afternoon."

Peyton had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the mention of Brooke.

"And," Lucas continued. "I think I'm going to ask her out."

Peyton felt a stab of pain near her heart and inwardly cringed as she thought,

_Maybe Haley was wrong after all._

"But aren't you already pretty much going out? I mean you have been on dates." Peyton questioned as she tried to control her voice.

"See it hasn't been officially stated, and Brook started going on about some non-exclusive crap. So I just want to make it real, you know. I want this to be something serious. What do you think?" Lucas completely missed the flash of pain that passed Peyton's face as he relayed this information. Peyton shrugged as if the whole thing didn't bother her.

"Does it really matter what I think?" Peyton hoped the bitterness of the question wasn't obvious.

"Well yeah." Lucas commented like it was obvious.

"But it's what you want right? So whatever I say won't make a difference."

"True, but it would be nice if you said it was a good idea." Lucas pleaded. Peyton merely sighed.

"It's a good idea." She deadpanned. Lucas immediately smiled.

"Oh, and this will mean I can't be your date for prom, but we can all still go together. You'll find another date easy right?"

"Yeah you know me, I've got guys lining up around the block waiting."

Lucas knew she was being sarcastic, but let the comment pass. He couldn't do anything about it anymore, he was supposed to be getting over Peyton and trying to move on. The whole thing with Brooke was – well not working, but it was a start.

"Thanks, Peyt. I'll see you tomorrow at school."Lucas left Peyton with a kiss on the cheek before exiting.

* * *

As soon as Peyton heard the front door close, she felt the tears run down her face that she had been trying to hold back. Forgetting about her hunger, she raced up to her room and grabbed her phone. Quickly dialling a number she knew by heart, she waited.

"Hello?" Haley answered.

"Hi." Peyton replied, not bothering to hide her sad voice.

"Oh, no." Haley whispered sympathetically, already knowing something had gone horribly wrong.

"No, its okay, I should have known this would happen." Peyton tried to reason.

"And what exactly happened?" Haley prompted.

"Well let's see. Lucas came over and we ended up both apologising for today, then I remembered I was going to tell him all those things you said but he ended up telling me his wonderful news first."

"And what was his news?"

"He wants to ask Brooke out, you know make it official and serious." Peyton explained. "Oh, and that he would be asking her to prom so I had to find someone else to go with."

"Oh." Haley breathed.

"Yeah, _oh_ is right. Ugh! I have so blown this." Peyton groaned. "I can't ever tell him now that he's so happy with Brooke, but really I don't know if I can stay silent with it either."

"You might not have to." Haley commented cryptically.

"How?" Peyton asked suspicious.

"Well, you might not have to, because he will tell you first."

"Oh yeah, I can see that happening. In another universe!" Peyton laughed.

"No, listen. He's only known Brooke for like a week, yet he's known you his whole life. I don't think he'd jeopardise that for some passing infatuation." Haley explained.

"We've been through this already. Our _friendship_," Peyton stressed the word. "is not going to last just because I want it to or you say it should."

"You're not listening! Lucas is taking you for granted." Haley groaned frustrated.

"You can say that again." Peyton mumbled bitterly.

"So, what do you think Lucas would do if you all of a sudden, weren't here?"

"Are you planning to kill me off?" Peyton asked laughing.

"Okay let me rephrase that, you're still here – and breathing." Haley added for Peyton's benefit. "But you're just not his."

"I'm not _his_ to begin with, thanks very much."

"Okay, whatever you think, but he doesn't see you that way." Peyton remained silent. "Like the night of Rachel's party, he took you away from those guys you were dancing with and took you home right after you kissed that guy."

"I guess." Peyton replied absentmindedly. "Wait, how did you know about that?"

"You probably shouldn't have kissed one of Nathan's teammates." Haley laughed. "Look, I know what I'm talking about here, just trust me."

"Alright." Peyton sighed. "But where is this all leading?"

"You, my friend, are going to get a boyfriend." Haley declared dramatically.

"Don't you think if it was that simple I would have one by now?" Peyton couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah you'd have one by now if Lucas didn't intimidate every guy that looked your way so they were too afraid to ask you out." Haley rolled her eyes.

"That's ridiculous." Peyton protested.

"Sure, whatever." Haley was sarcastic. "Now, I have a plan."

"I'm listening." Peyton tried to hold back her laughter at Haley's sudden seriousness.

"If you're just going to laugh, I won't tell you." Haley pouted.

"No, I'm sorry, tell me your plan."

"Okay, so like I said before," Haley started before Peyton interrupted.

"Wait, what were you saying before?"

"Girlie, have you even been listening?" Haley sighed.

"Um, yes?" Peyton replied hesitantly.

"Peyton!"

"No, I have, I have." Peyton hurriedly explained. "Let's see your weird twisted mind thinks that Lucas won't want to lose me so if I'm around – breathing – but not _his_, he'll realise he wants me. Did I get it right?"

"Yep!" Haley replied excitedly.

"And how exactly does me having a boyfriend come into it?" Peyton asked confused.

"Well, if you're dating some guy then you won't have time for Lucas and he'll miss you when you're not around. And as a bonus there's the whole jealousy factor." Haley grinned.

"I don't know Haley." Peyton was reluctant. "Besides, I don't want to just go out and get some random boyfriend now, I want to date Lucas."

"Aww that's sweet." Haley gushed. "But you don't have to _really_ be dating them. Ooh, what about Nathan. He's hot and we can explain to him what's going on. I'm sure he'd be happy to help."

"Nathan?" Peyton asked incredulously. "He'll probably laugh."

"No he won't. You know there was a time when he was your best friend just like Lucas is now, you know before he got all bigheaded with jock status. It's at least worth a try!"

"Fine." Peyton sighed, giving in. "But I reserve the right to say _I told you so_ when all of this doesn't work."

"Hey, be positive. It'll work."

"Lucas doesn't like me though." Peyton whined. "He is not going to care when I all of a sudden start making out with Nathan in the hallway."

"Peyton, shut up!" Haley demanded before hanging up the phone.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Hey I'm really glad you guys are enjoying it. Just a reminder this is AU so Haley and Nathan aren't anything. And remember Lucas and Nathan aren't anything but I gave Nathan the 'Scott' surname. If anything else is unclear just ask me!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you think you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

Lucas was standing at his locker in the morning, trying to organise the books he would need for the first periods, when he felt someone put their hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" Peyton called out chirpily. Lucas quickly removed her hands from his eyes as he returned to what he was doing without saying a word. Peyton stood there puzzled before moving so she was leaning on the locker next to his facing him.

"What's up with you today?" she asked.

"Nothing." Lucas was blunt and Peyton rolled her eyes at his tone.

"Right. That scowl shows me that absolutely nothing is wrong with you." She commented sarcastically.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it." Lucas told her as he finally glanced in her direction. Peyton shrugged, deciding to let it go as she saw Nathan approaching them. Peyton attempted to smile at him but felt the nerves building in her stomach. Nathan eventually joined them and wrapped an arm around Peyton's waist, pulling her to his side. Lucas was refusing to face them and Nathan took the opportunity to silently ask Peyton is what he was doing was okay. Peyton nodded slightly.

"Hi!" Peyton greeted him.

"Hey." Nathan smiled down at Peyton. "Hey Lucas, what's up man?"

"Obviously lots of things that I had no idea about." Lucas replied vaguely before slamming his locker shut. He glanced angrily, yet briefly, at the arm around Peyton's waist.

"I'll see you guys later." Lucas shook his head as he stormed away from the couple. Nathan glanced questioningly at Peyton before he removed his arm and turned to face her.

"Okay, did I miss something?" he asked. Peyton watched Lucas walk off and just shrugged.

"Peyton?" Nathan called trying to get her attention.

"Sorry." Peyton focused back on the boy standing next to her. "I have no idea. He was like that when I got here."

"Did anyone tell him about us, well at least pretend us, because if looks could kill." Nathan let his sentence trail off.

"I'm sorry Nathan, this whole idea is so stupid. I'd hate to see you two fight over something that isn't even real, you know? Maybe I shouldn't have listened to Haley's harebrained scheme."

"Look don't worry about me okay? Haley told you that Lucas would be jealous if he thought you and I were, well you know, and I think she was right." Nathan pointed in the direction Lucas had left. "I know that look, hell I've even given that look."

"Well, we've already started this so I guess we can always just see what happens. You don't mind do you?"

"Not at all. I get to have the hottest girl at school pretending to be my girlfriend." Peyton blushed slightly as Nathan pulled her into a sideways hug.

"May I walk you to class?" Nathan asked in a very formal tone. Peyton simply nodded as the two started walking down the hallway to class.

"Question." Nathan started as he suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Yeah?" Peyton asked as she stopped next to him.

"Okay, so this is really weird to say, but are we going to, you know, kiss?" Nathan grew shy at he asked his question.

"Did the great basketball player Nathan Scott just ask me if we were going to kiss?" Peyton teased.

"Hey this is all your idea remember, I'm just trying to keep up."

"Okay, one, this was all Haley's idea, and two, I suppose we could, if you wanted to." Peyton stumbled over her sentence.

"Well it would make it more believable." Nathan shrugged. Peyton nodded and before she could blink, Nathan leant over to lay a quick chaste kiss on her lips.

"Like that?" Nathan asked, not stopping the smirk that came after seeing Peyton's dazed expression. Peyton noticed the smirk and pushed him away as she grabbed his hand and started dragging him towards class.

"You're such a doofus. Just go with the flow and think of me as your _real_ girlfriend, so if we kiss, we kiss. Deal?"

Nathan mock saluted as the two arrived in front of Peyton's first period classroom. Students started filtering in as the two stood at the doorway. Peyton saw Lucas approaching the classroom from over Nathan's shoulder.

"Okay, go with the flow." Peyton instructed quickly.

"Huh?" Nathan asked confused.

"Kiss me." Peyton demanded.

"Why?" Nathan queried.

"Lucas. Behind you." Was all Peyton said before Nathan leant down and engaged Peyton in a not so chaste open mouthed kiss. Lucas slipped in the door behind the couple, trying to avoid having to watch his best friend publicly making out.

Before the kiss could get any more R rated, Peyton pulled away.

"I'm going to class." Peyton laughed as she left Nathan at the door who couldn't help shaking his head in amusement.

Peyton headed towards her usual seat which was directly in front of Lucas. As she approached she looked at him questioningly be he refused to look at her so she simply sat down. A few minutes later, their teacher arrived and started droning on about some Shakespearean sonnet that she couldn't care less about. As Peyton tried her hardest to stay awake, she felt a kick on the back of her chair, causing her to sit upright. Curious, Peyton turned around and glared at Lucas, the obvious culprit of the kick, and saw he was holding a piece of paper in his hand. Subtly glancing to the front to make sure the teacher wasn't paying attention, Peyton reached behind her to take the note from him. Surprised, she opened the letter and read.

_Why didn't you tell me? Love Luke._

Peyton inwardly sighed as she wondered how she was exactly supposed to explain her sudden _relationship_ with Nathan.

_It was all very sudden and I didn't want to say anything earlier because I knew you would hassle me about it. Love Peyt._

Peyton passed the note behind her and felt Lucas grab it. After a few seconds, she could feel Lucas tapping on her chair again, signalling for her to grab the note.

_How would I have hassled you? You should have told me._

Peyton felt bad reading his words. She could imagine the hurt he must have felt knowing she had kept something from him, but it wasn't the reaction that Haley had said she'd get. Lucas didn't seem jealous at all, just mad with the secrecy. Peyton tried to come up with something to write so she could get a sense of what he was feeling. If he cared that she was seeing someone else.

_You always tease me about the guys I like. Why do you care anyway? Are you forgetting about your little shadow, Brooke? I can do what I want._

Reading over it, Peyton sensed it was a little harsh, but she shrugged off the feeling and quickly handed it back to Lucas. She waited for a signal to take the note, but after fifteen minutes, she realised he either had a lot to say or he wasn't writing back. Peyton figured the latter was probably more accurate and she decided not to wait for him and had no choice but to concentrate on the class.

* * *

Peyton was relieved when the bell for next period rang and since Lucas hadn't replied, she ignored him as she left the classroom and headed to Math class. Luckily Lucas wasn't in the class with her but Nathan was and she smiled at him as she entered and took the seat next to him.

"Hey. How was Lucas when you went into class?" Nathan asked, noting the frown on Peyton's face as she thought about it.

"That bad huh?"

Peyton nodded. "Worse. I'm guessing he's upset that I didn't say anything about the feelings we're _supposed_ to have before we start dating. He was very surprised."

"Why?" Nathan looked on confused.

"Well, usually he can tell if I like someone and he end up getting all the juicy details out of me."

"But he didn't notice when you started liking him." Nathan pointed out. Peyton hit him none too lightly across the arm.

"Shh. Wanna say that a bit louder? And besides, he didn't notice because of Brooke, and now he would just assume I like _you_."

"So apart from being mad, is he jealous at all?"

"I don't know." Peyton sighed. "I'm hardly the most perceptive person when it comes to guys, but I did test him."

"Test him?" Nathan chuckled.

"Yeah but I think it was a bit harsh. He didn't write back."

"Passing notes huh?" Nathan laughed. "Very mature."

"Hey, he started it!" Peyton protested. "It was the only way we could talk."

"Okay, so what now?"

"We wait I guess." Peyton sighed. "Wait to see if he does anything, shows signs of jealousy or approval or joy, I don't know. But if he doesn't even talk to me because of this then there's no point in continuing, because I'll definitely lose him."

"And we definitely wouldn't want that." Nathan muttered and Peyton thought there was a hint of bitterness in the statement.

"Nathan, are you sure you're okay with this? If this is making you uncomfortable or used in any way, please tell me. I'd hate to lose another friend over Haley's stupid experiment." Peyton asked concerned. Nathan shook his head.

"No, it's nothing. But maybe, just for a little bit, we can forget all about Lucas and just have fun pretending to be a couple. Right?"

"Sure." Peyton agreed with a big smile as she leaned over to kiss Nathan's cheek, just as the teacher entered to start the class.

* * *

Finally, the end of the school day had arrived and Peyton was at her locker, emptying all of her books into her locker uncaring about whether she needed them or not. Nathan stood behind her, watching her actions amused. Shutting her locker, Peyton turned and leant her back on the cool metal, smiling up at Nathan as he waited for her.

"So we go home?" he asked like a little boy on Christmas morning.

"Of course.' Peyton laughed as she accepted the hand he offered and headed towards the school doors. Lucas suddenly appeared in front of them and Peyton immediately dropped Nathan's hand, a move that didn't go unnoticed by either of the boys. Lucas didn't look towards Nathan as he handed Peyton what looked like a letter that was at least a page long. Peyton took it and looked at Lucas for some indication of what he was thinking, only he was looking at his feet. Lucas eventually glanced up at Nathan.

"Look, I'm sorry for my reaction to, well you two, this morning. I'll see you around." And with that he was gone. Nathan sighed and looked down at Peyton.

"Well?" Peyton didn't answer as she stared between the letter in her hand and the direction Lucas had left. Nathan nudged her with his shoulder to get her attention.

"You okay?" Nathan asked when Peyton looked up.

"Of course, can we go?" Peyton attempted a smile as Nathan led her out of the school.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for reading and reviewing. A lot of you were so excited about Lucas' letter, sorry it's pretty crappy, I can't write like Lucas, sorry!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you think you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

_Dear Peyt,_

_Well I can't say it wasn't a shock. You never mentioned anything about him and I mean _anything_! I still don't understand why you didn't tell me, or maybe you felt you couldn't, which I also can't understand. I know you told me I have Brooke now so I shouldn't care, but Brooke has nothing to do with this, with us. I care about you more than anything and I never want to be left out of what is going on in your life. Especially something like this. I mean you're actually dating someone and that's something I never thought I'd see. Joke. Or maybe I just never thought it would be anyone but me. Wow, I don't know why I just said that or where it came from, let's just pretend it didn't happen. Okay, so you're dating Nathan, I have finally accepted that and I'm sure you're happy. I have no hard feelings towards either of you and I'm happy that you're happy. I'm even more happy that it's one of our closest friends that's making you happy, I know he will treat you well, like you should be treated. I have to say that things really haven't been the same since Brooke came into the picture. I changed, you changed, our friendship changed. I can just imagine you giving me one of your typically dark responses right now, maybe something like _'People Always Leave'_. Can I ask you for just one thing? That we stop right now. We stop changing because I'm scared that things are going to change so much that you dating Nathan isn't the last thing you won't think to tell me. So I don't know what else to say, except that I'm sorry. Sorry for not being there and making you think you couldn't tell me any of this. Sorry for the way I acted this morning when I saw you two together. Sorry for pretty much everything. Please, I can't have you not in my life. I love you, you're my best friend and just excuse my idiotic reactions to the good things in your life. I wasn't part of this and I want to be, I want to _always_ be part of it._

_Love Lucas._

By the time Peyton finished reading the letter, tears were streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't believe what she had just read and she was so happy but also sad at the same time. It seemed he had just summed up everything she had ever wanted to tell him in the one letter. She wanted to ring him straight away and apologise for everything, to explain the whole stupid plan. However, before she reached her phone, it started ringing, cutting through the silence of the room.

"Hello?" Jamie answered, the sound of tears still evident in her voice.

"Peyton? Is everything okay?" Haley asked worriedly. "What did Lucas do now?" Peyton couldn't help but laugh at her friends quick jump to conclusions.

"It's okay, I'm fine. And Lucas didn't do anything other than prove to me he is the best friend a girl could have."

"And more?" Haley asked slowly.

"Of course." Peyton smiled, glancing at the letter beside her.

"Okay, so if he is perfect, explain to me why you sounded so sad when you answered the phone. I thought I was going to have to go over there and kick his ass, okay maybe send Nathan over to do that." Haley laughed.

"Well as funny as that would be to watch, the you kicking his ass, not Nathan, he didn't do anything wrong. Today in first period he passed me a note asking about Nathan and I,"

"Passing notes? Very mature." Haley interrupted.

"That's what Nathan said." Peyton mumbled, before continuing. "Anyway so I think he wanted to talk about it since he had to watch an impromptu make out session near the classroom door,"

"You what?" Haley cried, interrupting again. Peyton rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to keep interrupting or let me finish?" Peyton didn't wait for an answer. "So the kiss was nothing interesting, believe me. I just wanted to increase our little experiment and see what Lucas' reaction to me kissing Nathan would be. It was nothing. So he passed me a note, I passed him a note and so on until he just didn't write back."

"Ass!" Haley commented.

"Not really, he just needed time, and that time produced a letter about a page long that was so sweet, hence the tears you heard when you rang."

"Aww, okay, tell me what the letter said." Haley demanded.

"I don't think so. It's for me only." Peyton refused.

"Please?" Haley begged.

"No, Hales."

"Fine, you're so mean you know that?" Haley pouted.

"I know. But I will tell you the main idea of the letter did not indicate that he was jealous, so again I have to tell you that I think this plan is backfiring. He's proving to be a great best friend, yeah, but nothing more than that."

"He didn't seem even the _slightest_ bit jealous?" Haley asked.

"Not that I can pick up on. Really he's only jealous because I didn't tell him and am supposedly happy with someone and he's not involved."

"As in a threesome? Kinky.' Haley laughed at the suggestion.

"You know what I meant." Peyton replied. "And eww!"

"So what do you want to do? Do you want to continue with Nathan and see if you two can provoke anything in Lucas?"

"I don't know, not really. I'm beginning to think that all of this is really unfair on Nathan, asking him to do something like this."

"I'm sure he doesn't mind. It looks like someone actually likes him."

"Like he needs help in that department." Both girls laughed.

"Look, you're going to have to tell me _something_ about Lucas' letter so I know what to tell you to do." Haley prompted. Peyton scanned over the letter finally spotting something that may be helpful.

"Well there is this one part. He says he is happy that I'm with Nathan because he's a close friend and he know Nathan will treat me well, the way I should be treated."

"Wow, he does have a way with words."

"But it's not worth anything in terms of knowing what to do next."

"Actually," Haley suddenly formed a new plan. "What if we prove Lucas wrong? Show him that Nathan isn't treating you the way he should. Lucas will feel so bad about expecting Nathan to take care of you and leaving you alone with him, he'll want to make it up to you."

"Huh? More information, please."

"Okay, think about how Lucas would expect Nathan to treat you?" Peyton shrugged even though Haley couldn't see her.

"I guess he just doesn't want Nathan to hurt me in any way, have him make sure I'm happy, that sort of thing."

"And if Nathan was to hurt you?" Haley asked innocently.

"Lucas would have an aneurysm." Peyton said like it was obvious.

"Exactly!" Haley announced excitedly.

"Exactly?" Peyton asked confused.

"You know for a normally bright girl, Peyton, you sure are slow when it comes to this whole Lucas situation."

"Hey." Peyton protested at the insult.

"So back to the point. Lucas expects Nathan to treat you well, not harm you. If Nathan hurt you, Lucas would have an aneurysm, you said so yourself. Lucas would feel so terrible for just assuming that you would be okay and would want to help out in any way that he could."

"Anyway that he could, huh?" Peyton was sceptical. "That doesn't exactly mean he is just magically going to have feelings for me and we'd end up together."

"Okay he won't just _magically_ have feelings for you, because he already does, we just have to get him to act on them."

"Oh right, you're theory that he does see me as more than a best friend, he just forgot to act on those feelings every time we've been together."

"Shut up. Even you know there is _something_ there, I just happen to admit it more than you do. Now, can we get Nathan to harass you?" Haley asked excitedly.

"Okay maybe you can try to not be so happy about someone harassing me." Peyton grumbled. "And I don't know if this is such a good idea. What if Lucas doesn't talk to Nathan after all of this and we ruin their friendship. Nathan is only trying to help out."

"Sweetie, they don't exactly talk every day, I'm sure they will get over it. And if Nathan is sincere about helping you out, he'd agree to do this right?" Peyton remained silent.

"Right?" Haley tried again.

"I guess." Peyton sighed frustrated.

"Okay I'll just have to be enthusiastic for the both of us. I'll arrange the whole thing and then we'll see how Lucas really feels about his best friend."

"About me?" Peyton asked.

"No, me." Haley replied sarcastically.

"Are you sure Nathan will go for this?"

"There's only one way to find out."

* * *

"No!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Why not?" Haley sighed frustrated.

"Because I don't want to. There is no way I'm going to look like I'm hurting Peyton. I can't do that. I _won't_ do that."

"Well I don't really care what _you_ want to do, you have to do this for _her_." Haley swapped the phone to her other shoulder as she continued typing away at her computer.

"I don't have to do anything. Why the hell is she even still trying to win Lucas? He's an idiot if he can't see what's right in front of him. He's going to lose her because of it and he doesn't deserve her."

"You love her." Haley quietly stated.

"What? No way." Nathan quickly denied.

"Nathan." Haley warned in that tone of hers. Nathan sighed, defeated.

"So what if I do? Does she care? Does she notice? No, because all she cares about is poor Lucas who seriously must be a total retard if he doesn't notice her."

"Nathan, I hate to say this but I think he actually does notice her, he does see what's right in front of him and he does realise what he's losing. Have you not noticed all of those looks he's been giving you two?"

"Okay, yes I know that look and I've been kind of trying not to give them a second thought. I thought if I agreed to act like Peyton's boyfriend, she would see something in me and it would eventually not be an act. I thought she'd forget about Lucas. And now you're telling me I have to purposefully lose her so she can try to, once again, make Lucas want her."

"She isn't trying to _make_ Lucas do anything." Haley sighed exasperated.

"Right." Nathan was disbelieving.

"Nathan, she doesn't have to _make_ him because he already does. But for some bizarre reason, he's not acting on it. Kind of the same way you didn't and won't act on your feelings."

"Me? I think you know why I never acted on it. I've seen them together okay, I see how they act when they're together and how well they compliment each other. I wasn't about to risk their perfect little friendship for something that would have turned out to be a very short relationship, probably something meaningless to her. Now I don't think my reason is anywhere near the same as Lucas' seeing as how Lucas is that guy that compliments her. Please do not compare me to the wonderful Lucas right now." Nathan rambled.

"Nathan, I'm sorry. I never knew." Haley whispered.

"No one knew. It's always about Lucas and Peyton, Peyton and Lucas. You write songs, I'm sure this would make a good one."

"Maybe a song about longing." Haley agreed. "But there's no conclusion, no moral that makes people go 'wow'."

"Sure there is." Nathan disagreed. "Let's see, there's 'Don't fall in love with your best friend', 'Don't fall in love with your mates best friend' and my favourite 'Don't fall in love with your mates _soul mate_'."

"Okay so you love Peyton, I get that now. But you said it yourself, it's Lucas and Peyton, always has been. There's one person out there for everyone, and sometimes it may seem like that one person is meant for more than one person but that can't be the case. Fate screws us over, but not that much."

"And how do you know fate is telling us that Peyton belongs to Lucas and vice versa?" Nathan asked.

"Do you really have to ask? After everything they've been through?"

"After _everything_ they've been through, yeah, I think I could be on to something."

"Look, do you want to help Peyton get Lucas so that she'll be happy, or do you want to stop Peyton from getting Lucas so she'll be unhappy and then down the track, _maybe_ be with you?" Haley asked frustrated.

"Fine. Yes Lucas and Peyton are meant to be together." Nathan grumbled. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Okay, so I want you to help Peyton out by pretending that you're kind of, harassing her." Haley suggested.

"You want me to look bad?"

"Yeah." Haley answered like it was obvious. "See Lucas thinks that you're the greatest guy for Peyton to be dating because he knows you and that you won't treat her like crap. If you prove him wrong, then he'll feel so bad and he'll want to comfort Peyton, hopefully prompting him to reveal his feelings. Get it?"

"I don't know." Nathan was reluctant.

"Why?' Haley sighed frustrated.

"Because I know Lucas, and if he sees anyone, let alone someone he trusts, doing anything to harm his precious Peyton, he will kick their ass and no one will be able to hold him back."

"That's not true, Peyton will be there and she won't let it get any further than I tell her is needed."

"Then you tell her?" Nathan asked amused.

"Well, if it was up to Peyton, she wouldn't let Lucas touch you, but that doesn't fit into my plan. See Lucas has to do some damage so he feels like he is protecting Peyton."

"Wait, damage? You never said anything about damage!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Please." Haley rolled her eyes. "You play a contact sport. It's not going to be anything worse than a split lip or broken nose."

"Yeah, because you know I just love going home sore and bleeding, especially when I didn't even do anything wrong in the first place!"

"Please Nathan? I'll make it up to you." Haley begged suggestively.

"I'll think about it."

* * *

AN: So even though Nathan declared his love for Peyton, should I have Nathan and Haley together at the end?


	9. Chapter 9

You guys are amazing! Seriously, thanks for the reviews and alerts...

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you think you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

The next day at school, Nathan and Peyton were walking to class when Lucas caught up to them. They all greeted each other but that's where the conversation ended as the threesome walked to the classroom in silence. Nathan and Peyton were still acting like a couple and were holding hands and walking close to each other, while Lucas stood to the side. As they reached the classroom, Lucas expected Peyton to follow him in, but seeing her hesitance, he sighed as he entered alone, leaving the couple at the door.

"So?" Nathan started, looking down at Peyton.

"So what?" she asked back confused.

"Are we continuing this?" Nathan questioned motioning between the two of them with his hand.

"Oh, well, did you and Haley talk about, you know?' Peyton mumbled, refusing to meet his eyes.

"She did." Nathan commented. "But I don't know if I like the idea of Lucas beating me to a pulp."

"What?" Peyton exclaimed loudly, causing a few nearby students to turn their way. Upon noticing the stares, she lowered her voice, "He wouldn't do that."

"Look, I'm not going to have this conversation with you as well. Let's just say I know Lucas very well." Nathan caught Peyton's expression and he quickly realised who he was talking to. "Okay, so that doesn't really mean much when I'm talking to the person that knows him inside-out. Let's just leave it at the fact that I'm thinking about it. I better get to class."

Nathan leant down to kiss Peyton goodbye but she moved her head at the last minute and the kiss landed awkwardly on her cheek. Nathan followed her gaze and saw her looking at Lucas who was sitting at his usual seat but had a girl draped across it, chatting to him. Nathan picked up on the distraction and sighed.

"Bye." Nathan offered as he turned to leave.

"Bye." Peyton replied still distracted as she entered the class and headed to her usual seat.

* * *

The lunch bell had rung five minutes ago and Haley was already at a lunch table out in the courtyard, her food untouched beside her as she scribbled furiously in a notebook. Haley jumped in shock as a bag slammed down on the table across from her and she looked up to see Nathan standing there, looking less than happy. Haley sighed as she closed her notebook and motioned for Nathan to take a seat.

"Okay, what's with the look?"

"I'll give you one guess." Nathan huffed.

"Let's see." Haley started, pretending to think. "This couldn't have anything to do with your girlfriend, could it?"

"Could you not call her that?" Nathan pleaded.

"Sorry." Haley wasn't apologetic. "What has she done to your poor fragile heart now?"

"My heart is anything but poor and fragile, thanks." Nathan scoffed.

"Could have fooled me." Haley shrugged.

"Peyton just happens to be the person I want right now, I'm sure the moment will pass." Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Right. So what happened?"

"Well let's see, she took my heart, stomped on it and left it for dead, then thrown it away for good measure."

Haley couldn't help laugh at Nathan's over exaggeration of Peyton's actions.

"Okay, calm down." Haley suggested.

"Calm down? No way. I'm over this whole scheme you cooked up Haley James." Nathan's voice began to rise at every syllable. Haley looked around the courtyard to see a few people glancing there way, shock on their faces.

"Nathan, you better calm down before the entire student body decides to throw you in a mental institution. Now since Peyton is apparently just a "flavour of the week" why are you so upset?"

Nathan glared silently at Haley, but eventually gave in.

"I was all ready to continue your stupid charade this morning, until I saw her and I realised I couldn't do it. I don't want to lose her, even though this whole thing is fake to begin with. But it's just that she doesn't care what I think, all she cares about is me having my nose broken so that Lucas can come off as some heroic figure by saving her. And then all morning whenever she saw him, she was completely distracted and would stare at him, ignoring me even though I thought we were _supposed_ to be dating. So I've thought about it some more, and I say let's start the harassing." Nathan grinned.

"So this is really just about you having your ego bruised because your so called girlfriend ignored you this morning?" Haley questioned incredulously.

"Not entirely." Nathan mumbled unconvincingly.

"Look, I don't think you harassing her when you're worked up like this is such a good idea."

"Why not? I thought that's what you wanted?" Nathan asked confused.

"Well, it is, but not like this. I mean it has to _look_ like you're harassing her, not that you actually are. I don' think she would appreciate you abusing her in front of the school."

"Oh come on, where's the fun in that? I mean it would get a better reaction from Lucas."

"No, Nathan. You're just mad right now, you might let something slip."

"It sounded like a good plan in my head." Nathan grumbled as he hung his head on the table.

"It always does." Haley commented with a small shrug.

"So, what now?" Nathan asked.

"You just have to do what I tell you to, no improvising." Haley instructed.

* * *

"Peyton!" Nathan called out as he approached her at her locker.

"Oh, hi." Peyton smiled as she turned to face him. She watched as Nathan swallowed hard and knew this wasn't going to end well, especially when he walked up to her and stood just a little too close, so she was forced to step back and pinned between him and her locker.

"Nathan?" Peyton asked slightly confused. Nathan leant to whisper in her ear.

"I'm just doing what Haley told me too, so just go along with it." Nathan returned to a standing position as he leaned dangerously close over Peyton.

"I want the truth." Nathan demanded sternly.

"The truth? About what?" Peyton tried to play along with the charade but was genuinely confused about where this was going.

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what. I saw you with some guy after school yesterday." Nathan raised his voice hoping to gain attention from the nearby students, and also hoping Lucas was somewhere nearby and would catch the show.

"Who? I don't know what you're talking about." Peyton said, trying to keep her voice calm. The only guy she really hung out with was Lucas and she hoped Nathan wasn't about to bring him into the fake fight.

"Yes you do!" Nathan yelled. "Max, is it?"

"Max, from the record store, Max?" Peyton was shocked.

"See, you do know what I'm talking about. You're always over there. Just tell me the truth."

'The truth about what, Nathan? There's nothing going on between Max and I. You know who I love." Peyton chose her last words carefully, they weren't exactly untrue.

"Well maybe I just can't believe you anymore. I don't know what's going on inside that head of yours. Maybe I'll never know." Nathan went to walk away and end it there. It was hurting him to say these things to Peyton but she grabbed his arm and continued.

"What are you trying to say to me? I did _nothing_ wrong and this is what I get?" Peyton turned on fake tears for effect, causing Nathan to look away never being able to stand seeing any girl crying. As he faced the small crowd around them, he realised why Peyton was making the fight look so real. Coming fast through the onlookers was Lucas, an unreadable expression on his face. Nathan turned back to Peyton.

"I just can't do this anymore, Peyt. It hurts too much, just let it go." Nathan felt the emotion building as he realised the true meaning of those words and how they applied so much more than just to this fake relationship. So much for not improvising. He turned to walk away but was stopped again, only this time it wasn't Peyton holding him back. Lucas had made it to the front of the crowd and with one glance at Peyton's tear stained face, he pushed Nathan hard into the nearby lockers.

"Don't-" was all Nathan managed to get out before Lucas' fist connected with his jaw. Quickly recovering from the shock, Nathan threw a punch into Lucas' stomach, who threw one back into Nathan's stomach. Lucas managed to hold Nathan in a head lock s they tousled.

"Lucas! Nathan!" Peyton shouted as she moved towards them, pulling Lucas by the back of his shirt. Lucas glanced over his shoulder, momentarily releasing his hold on Nathan who immediately pulled away and stormed out of the school, ignoring Peyton's sympathetic gaze. Peyton watched him go before turning to Lucas, hands on hips.

"Lucas, what were you going?" she asked, truly mad at him.

"I don't know, I just heard him yelling and then saw you crying and I had to do something." Lucas tried to justify it.

"But you've known Nathan for years, why hit him?"

"I just told you. You were crying and I figured he had something to do with it, so I got angry."

"I guess I didn't realise you cared that much." Peyton sighed as she shook her head.

"What?" Lucas asked doubtfully. "How can you say that? You know I care for you like I would my own sister. How could I not do anything if I saw you upset." At Lucas' use of the word _sister_, Peyton had to leave, realising that even the recent display of testosterone meant nothing.

"Well thanks I guess, but I should really go and see how Nathan is."Peyton began to walk away.

"But you guys aren't dating anymore." Lucas called after her. Peyton thought she heard some relief in his statement but chose to ignore it.

"Doesn't mean he isn't still my friend." Peyton replied not looking back as she continued out the doors Nathan had left through.

Lucas stood there shocked, trying to figure out exactly what just happened between the three friends. Peyton was right, he never would have hit Nathan over anything else but he had felt a strong urge to protect Peyton in that moment. Lucas groaned inwardly as he tried to remind himself that he was dating Brooke and trying to get over Peyton, not to be her knight in shining armour. It was times like these Lucas thanked the powers that be that Brooke chose not attend THH and attended a private school near the states border. Lucas looked down the hallway following the path Peyton had just left. He hoped she wasn't picking up on the feelings he was trying so hard to hide because he didn't know if he would be able to say no to her if they were suddenly reciprocated. Lucas chuckled. Like that would ever happen.

* * *

Peyton wandered outside and glanced around the grassed area, hoping to spot any sign of Nathan. Coming up empty, Peyton realised there was only one place he could be, without actually leaving the school, and headed towards the gym. Sure enough when she entered, the gym was empty and silent, save for the lone figure shooting free throw after free throw causing a soft _swish_ to sound from the net.

"Nate?" she called to him quietly, approaching his rigid form. Nathan dropped the ball at his feet as he turned to face Peyton.

"Come here." Nathan offered as he held his arms open for Peyton. Peyton gladly took the embrace, wondering how Nathan could be so caring in that moment when the whole thing was her fault. Nathan led the two towards the bleachers and they took a seat.

"Sit down, we need to talk." Nathan suggested as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm so sorry Nathan." Peyton mumbled as she lightly traced the quick forming bruise that was appearing on his jaw.

"Don't worry about it." Nathan laughed quietly. "So how is your prince doing?"

"He's so far from being my prince right now." Peyton rolled her eyes. "He's more of an apologising coward."

"He hasn't come and apologised to me." Nathan commented confused.

"No, but he apologised to me, seeing as he hit me and all." Peyton joked. "But seriously, he is sorry and he really doesn't know what came over him."

"I know what came over him. He was trying to protect you from big bad me because he loves you." Nathan stated simply.

"Well you got the protecting bit right, but what big bad you failed to notice was that he only thinks of me as his sister."

"Maybe he's into the incest thing." Nathan joked, pushing Peyton playfully.

"Stop it. He told me straight out – _I care for you like I would my own sister_." Nathan groaned frustrated.

"That boy is deaf, dumb and blind. What do we have to do, kill you?"

"Gee thanks." Peyton swatted him.

"Hey it was just a suggestion." Nathan shrugged away from her. "Look, I don't know what to tell you other than he's lying. I've known both you and Lucas for a while now and he does not only think of you as a sister."

"Right, the _look_. Scary!" Peyton mumbled sarcastically.

"Fine, don't believe me. But I'm telling you that us guys, we all pretty much work the same. When we like someone we want to kill every guy she's with and will probably _really_ kill any guy who hurts her."

Peyton moved back into Nathan's embrace as she leant her head on his shoulder.

"What am I going to do?" she pouted.

"Do you really want to be with someone who can't see what's right in front of them?" Nathan asked.

"Would you think less of me if I respond with a strong _yes_?"

"No, I was just wondering." Nathan admitted. "So since we're being all honest here, do you think Haley likes me?" Nathan sheepishly asked. Peyton sat straight up, turning to face him.

"Hell no!" Peyton exclaimed shocked. Nathan's face fell at her answer.

"Oh no, I don't mean _hell no_ as in she doesn't like you. I mean _hell no_ as in I can't believe you like Haley." Peyton corrected. Nathan shrugged.

"You so have to ask her to prom."

"I don't know. I'm sure she already has a date."

Peyton waved him off. "Nope, she and I were going together but this is so much better. You can take her. I probably won't even go anyway."

Nathan still looked sceptical about the idea.

"Dude, it's prom!" Peyton laughed, pleased with her idea.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Wow, I'm sorry for the Nathan/Haley thing being too quick. I hope I can redeem myself with this chapter. I know it's a bit short, but there's only one chapter left after this so enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you think you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

"I'm not going!" Peyton exclaimed loudly into the phone causing Haley to pull it away from her ear temporarily so as not to go deaf.

"Yes you are." Haley told her calmly.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!" Peyton argued again as she fell backwards onto her bed. "Why do you need me to go with you anyway. I thought Nathan was taking you?"

"He is, but that's beside the point. We want to all go as a group. Look, do I have to call Lucas to get his butt over to your house and drag you kicking and screaming to prom?" Haley asked deadly serious. Peyton glanced down at her small sleep shorts and oversized ravens shirt.

"Based on what I'm wearing, I don't think that would make a good impression." Peyton commented. "Besides, Lucas wouldn't even notice if I was there or not. Haven't you heard about the oh so wonderful Brooke who he is accompanying to _our_ prom."

"Okay we'll get to the Brooke situation, but in the meantime, we're talking about you."

"I noticed." Peyton interrupted moodily.

"Yes, and we're talking about how you cannot miss our _prom_ for crying out loud! You're supposed to go regardless if the man of your dreams is with someone else or the guy you love doesn't even notice you. You just go and party and have fun! Now get your fat ass off of that bed and start getting ready."

"Says you who has an actual date to this thing. And I do not have a fat ass." Peyton protested.

"An actual date, yeah right. It's just Nathan. Look, it's four o'clock now and the prom starts at eight. Most of the girls are already half ready by now and you're still in your pyjamas. I don't have time to argue with you about this, just get ready."

"I'm not ready because I'm not going." Peyton declared as she hung up the phone. Two seconds later the phone rang and sure enough it was Haley calling.

"Yes?" Peyton answered sweetly.

"Okay first, don't ever hang up on me." Haley tried to be firm but was laughing. "And second, please just get ready and come. It will be fun and this time you can get drunk and have meaningless make out sessions without Lucas ruining your fun."

"I don't even have anything to wear." Peyton sighed, starting to give in.

"Yes you do. You already bought a prom dress and it's hanging in your wardrobe."

"Oh right." Peyton agreed. "Okay, well I don't have a date." She tried to come up with another excuse.

"No big deal." Haley waved it off. "I've already explained it to Nathan and he is more than happy for you to come with us. It will be great all hanging out again."

"Gee great, I'll be a third wheel, make that fifth wheel once you join up with Lucas and Brooke. And I don't think Nathan's plan was to make this a _hanging out_ thing. He asked you remember, not me."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like we have to stick by your side _all _night. I'm sure Nathan and I can find a moment by ourselves." Haley commented suggestively.

"Ok, ew." Peyton decided to change the subject. "So I don't even have a way to get there."

"That's all taken care of." Haley suddenly seemed slightly nervous with this line of questioning.

"There wouldn't happen to be anything wrong with this mode of transport?" Peyton asked picking up on Haley's tone.

"No, no." Haley denied quickly. "I'll see you in half an hour."

"Why so early?"

"Well seeing as you've left everything to the last minute, I'm going to have to come over to do your hair and makeup."

"Yay." Peyton responded unenthused.

"None of that. After I'm done, no guy will be able to resist you."

"Except one." Peyton answered sadly, glancing at Lucas' darkened bedroom window across the lawn.

"Peyton, just don't okay? It's our prom!" Haley warned.

"Sorry, sorry." Peyton forced herself to look away. "I'll see you soon." Peyton hung up the phone and left it in the middle of her bed as she went in search of her prom dress.

* * *

Haley was standing in front of Peyton's full length mirror downstairs near the front door as she smoothed out her cream dress for the thousandth time.

"Don't you just love the invention of high heels? I swear I'm too short." Haley called up to Peyton who was putting on the last touches as she admired her strappy silver shoes. "Now are you coming downstairs, Nathan is going to be here with the limo any second." And Lucas and Brooke, Haley thought to herself, hoping Peyton wouldn't kill her when she found out.

"I'll just be a minute. I can't get these straps at the back even." Peyton yelled down, clear frustration in her voice.

"Hang on, I'm coming up." Haley responded but just as she set foot on the bottom step the doorbell rang announcing someone's presence.

"No it's okay, just get the door. I'll be right down."

Haley shrugged as she turned to open the door, revealing Nathan as expected but also Lucas who wasn't so expected.

"Hey.' Nathan greeted as he appraised what Haley was wearing and leant over to give her a not so chaste kiss on the cheek, presenting her with a small corsage which she gladly accepted. Lucas waited on the doorstep nervously as he watched the two exchange.

"Hey." Haley greeted cheerfully as she moved to Lucas for a friendly kiss on the cheek. "Where's Brooke? Did you finally come to your sense and ditch her in favour of us?" Haley joked to Lucas.

"She's waiting in the car." Lucas mumbled.

"Damn." Haley commented sarcastically, but deep down disappointed.

"So where's Peyton? Is she ready?" Nathan asked, glancing up the stairs.

"Who was at the door?" Peyton asked as she arrived at the top of the stairs. Lucas could have sworn his heart stopped beating in the moment. Sure he had always known Peyton was beautiful, but tonight she was indescribable. His eyes swept over her from top to bottom, taking in the long blonde curls she had left out to frame her face perfectly, to her white chiffon dress which she had paired with silver strappy heels similar to Haley's but had a very different effect on her long lean legs.

"Oh, hi." Peyton stopped when she saw Lucas standing beside Nathan. Lucas barely managed a nod while Nathan greeted her warmly.

"Nathan, how about we go wait in the car?" Haley suggested upon noticing the tension between the two friends. "Don't be long you two, we don't want to keep all of those guys waiting Peyton." Haley winked as she pulled Nathan out the door. Peyton started to slowly walk down the stairs, wary of tripping in her heels so she was looking down and didn't notice Lucas hadn't taken his eyes off of her. As she went to walk out the door, she brushed past Lucas who stopped her with a small kiss on her cheek.

"You look beautiful." Lucas whispered.

"No I don't." Peyton rolled her eyes as she tried to stop the blush from rising. Lucas laughed at her reaction.

"What?" Peyton asked self-consciously.

"You were never good at taking compliments." Peyton shrugged at his response. "Just say thank you." He suggested.

"Thank you." Peyton quietly spoke as the two stayed in an eye lock at the front door. Suddenly the two were broken from their daydream when the horn on the limo blared and Haley stuck her head out the window.

'Come on you two and Lucas, stop making her blush. She's turning all red and it doesn't go with her dress."

"Sorry." Lucas called back sarcastically as he led Peyton to the car with a hand on the small of her back. Before Peyton moved into the car, she whispered angrily but with a smile to Haley who still had her head sticking out of the window.

"You do realise you didn't get away with this at all, don't you?"

"Yes, but you love me anyway." Haley laughed as she watched Peyton gracefully move into the limo who was shaking her head and also laughing.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks so much to everyone who stuck with this story. This is the last chapter! It is a bit different to what everyone expected and was waiting for, but I hope you still like it...

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you think you've read, heard or seen before...**

* * *

Inside the limousine, Nathan, Haley and Peyton were sitting on one side across from Lucas and Brooke. Peyton tried to keep her face neutral as she watched Brooke mould herself into Lucas' side while her hands never remained idle, alternating between caressing his face and playing with the small hairs at the nape of his neck. Haley and Nathan on the other hand didn't see why they needed to hide their annoyed reaction at the obvious PDA in front of them.

"Get a room." Nathan mumbled under his breath, but it was loud enough for Brooke to hear as she held up a hotel room key smiling smugly. Lucas slightly pulled away from her hold, slightly uncomfortable that their actions were making everyone else uncomfortable.

"Oh Haley, I forgot to tell you that you're dress is amazing." Brooke smiled at the brunette across from her. Haley began to smile at the compliment, before Brooke continued. "You almost look as hot as me."

"Thanks, I guess." Haley rolled her eyes. Brooke turned to Peyton.

"Your dress is okay too, Peyton." Brooke offered unwillingly. Peyton ignored the comment as she continued to stare out the window. Haley nudged her slightly, subtly prompting her to say something.

"Yeah, thanks." Peyton grumbled. Peyton noticed as Lucas rose his eyebrows and frown at her mood but she shrugged it off and she threw him a sarcastic smile.

"I have to admit, Peyton, you have been spending a lot of time with _my_ boyfriend." Brooke started.

"Well he was _my_ best friend before he was _your_ boyfriend, so I guess it's just something you'll have to get used to." Peyton bit back.

"Hmm, I guess I can deal with it seeing as he is regularly in _my_ bed." Brooke replied cattily. Lucas blushed at the comment as he tried to warn Brooke with a look that she should be quiet.

"It's not like yours is the only bed he's been in lately. Actually he was in _mine_ just last week." Peyton declared. She knew it wasn't in the same sense that Brooke meant it, but it was still true. Brooke turned to Lucas with a glare.

"Now, now girls. This isn't a "who does Lucas like better" competition." Nathan tried to ease the tension in the car. And anyway, he knew who the winner would be. Peyton crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive manner as she turned back to face out the window.

"So..." Haley tried to start a new conversation, but couldn't think of a new topic.

"so, I suppose you've all heard about mine and Lucas' plans?" Brooke began. Nathan, Haley and Peyton noticed Lucas tense slightly at the question and he lightly squeezed the arm he had wrapped around Brooke's waist, hoping she would get the hint to not continue. Brooke looked over at him slightly confused before Peyton cut in.

"No, what plans?" she asked curious. Brooke couldn't wait to rub it in.

"Well Lucas and I have decided to jet off and travel for a year, after graduation of course." Brooke smiled widely. Lucas shifted uncomfortably while Haley audibly sighed, both fearing Peyton's reaction to the news. Peyton, however, just pasted on a fake smile.

"Well that really sounds great."

"No plans are set in concrete yet though. I still have some loose send to tie up around her." Lucas tried to explain, hoping to soften the blow. Peyton glanced at him and saw he was trying to apologise for not telling her earlier.

"Oh no. It's pretty much a definite." Brooke confirmed, wanting Peyton to know that Brooke had won.

"Yeah, Lucas, seems like you can't wait to get away from here as soon as possible." Peyton replied harshly.

"You know that's not true." Lucas sighed.

"I don't think I know anything anymore, Lucas."

"Peyton." Haley whispered to her worriedly. Peyton ignored the four of them as she tapped on the glass panel that separated them from the driver.

"Please stop here." Peyton demanded as soon as the screen rolled down.

"No!" Lucas, Haley and Nathan all exclaimed at the same time. Brooke sat quietly, a smug smile on her face. Before anyone could react, the driver had already pulled the limousine to a stop and Peyton reached over to open the door. She quickly flew out and slammed the door behind her. Lucas collapsed into the seat, disappointed and upset.

"Why did you have to bring that up?" Lucas turned to Brooke, whose smile slowly faded as she noticed Lucas' mood.

"Well someone had to bring it up to your Precious Peyton. I knew you were never going to get around to telling her."

"I would have!' Lucas exclaimed. "I just had to find the right time, and telling her on the way to prom while we're driving down the back streets of Tree Hill was not it."

"Lucas." Nathan quietly interrupted as he motioned his head towards where Peyton had left.

"Haley?" Lucas pleaded as he looked over at his friend.

"You know I'm not the one she wants to talk to right now." Haley explained as she leant into Nathan, indicating she wasn't going anywhere. Lucas sighed as he turned to a fuming Brooke. She wouldn't meet his stare.

* * *

When Peyton had exited the limousine, she had no idea what she was doing or where she would go. Hell, she didn't even know where they were when she had asked the driver to stop. That didn't stop her from breaking into a run as soon as she stepped out, never looking back to see if anyone had come out to try and stop her. After a few steps, Peyton realised she shouldn't even attempt to run in the heels Haley had made her wear and as she stopped, she turned to where the limousine had been, only to find it gone and no one in sight. Great, she was stranded on a deserted road all alone with no idea where she was. Sighing, she started walking further down the road, hoping she was heading in the right direction. Peyton began talking out loud to herself

"Oh, who cares right? I'm fine, really. This is all just completely fine. I didn't really expect anyone to come after me. I mean, why would they? They don't care enough about me to miss _their_ prom. Besides, I'm sure I can find my own way home. I don't need anyone rescuing me, I'm no damsel in distress. I am fine on my own." Peyton's rant turned into a mumble as she stopped and took in the emptiness that surrounded her.

"Oh god. I have no idea where I am. I am not fine on my own." Peyton felt her eyes well up with tear and as they started streaming down her face, she reached up and undid the clips holding her hair out of her face, letting the curls tumble around her shoulders.

"What am I supposed to do?" Peyton yelled towards the sky as she started walking again. In response, Peyton heard a loud crack of thunder before the sky opened up and the raindrops fell around her.

"This is perfect, thanks! You really know how to top off the worst evening _ever_!" Peyton continued yelling towards the sky. Walking faster now, Peyton continued down the lone road, constantly jumping at the distant sound of thunder. Suddenly she stopped and whirled around to look behind her, certain that she had heard something. She couldn't see far because of the darkness and heavy rain around her. She shrugged it off and turned to start walking again when she heard the noise again. Whirling around she called into the darkness.

"Okay, um, whoever is out there just show yourself now. I mean I am already having the _worst_ night so if you want to end it for me, by all means go ahead. I promise I won't even try to stop you. So just come out... whoever you are."

Peyton searched the darkness with fear before she noticed a shadow at the side of the road. Peyton swallowed as she waited for the mystery person to reveal themselves and was shocked as she watched Lucas step out of the shadows. His clothes were soaked while his hair fell limp as it was matted against his head from the rain. Peyton sighed in relief, but the feeling quickly turned to anger and she turned and started walking quickly away from him. She could hear him running after her, so she attempted to run as well. She didn't get very far as he easily caught up to her and grabbed her arm, swinging her around to face him. She was furious with him as she ripped her arm away from his grasp.

"Don't touch me! What do you want? What are you doing out here?" Peyton yelled as she motioned to the space around them.

"I could ask you the same thing."

Peyton ignored his question as she turned away from him.

"Well?" Lucas prompted.

"Why were you following me like that, like some crazed stalker? Why not just show yourself?" Peyton asked her own questions.

"I was curious to see if you would make any more interesting outbursts." Lucas laughed. Peyton remained silent. "You don't need anyone rescuing, do you? We don't care enough, do we?" Lucas threw back at her. Peyton cringed as she remember her words from earlier.

"I don't know, Peyt, maybe it was because I didn't want to get my head bitten off." Lucas admitted.

"Now why do you think I would do something like that?" Peyton asked him sarcastically, turning to face him again.

"What is going on here?" Lucas asked desperately, pulling her closer as he lay his hands on top of her arms.

"You don't want to know." She whispered, looking down refusing to look into his eyes.

"You're right. I just left our best friends and my girlfriend in a limousine and sent them to our prom without us, just so I could come out here in the pouring rain and ask you a question I _didn't_ want the answer to."

"Trust me Luke, you don't want to know." Peyton tried again.

"Does this have anything to do with Nathan?" Lucas asked suspiciously. Peyton laughed out loud.

"Did you not notice Nathan and Haley sitting across from you in the limousine just now? Trust me, this has nothing to do with Nathan."

'Than what?" Lucas asked, getting frustrated.

"It's Brooke." Peyton sighed.

"Brooke?"

"I just don't like her okay."

"You don't like her?"

"Are you just going to repeat everything I say?' Peyton looked at him questioningly. Lucas made a motion of zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

"I don't like her." Peyton confirmed. "And I also kind of envy her."

"You're jealous?" Lucas asked in amazement. Peyton shrugged, but Lucas could tell that the answer was yes. "Why would you be jealous of her? It's not like she has anything that you don't have. You're beautiful and amazing and you have so many great friends that would do anything for you. What's missing?"

"You." Peyton mumbled.

"I'm here right now, aren't I?" Lucas stated confused.

"But you're not here the way I want you to be. _We're_ not the way I want us to be." Peyton explained truthfully before shaking her head and walking away from a stunned Lucas.

"Oh."

"When did this happen exactly?" Lucas questioned as he shook himself from his frozen state and ran up to her.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now." Peyton deflected the question, not stopping in her speed walk.

"Well that's too bad, because I _do_ want to talk about it right now."

Peyton suddenly stopped and turned, running into Lucas who hadn't noticed and continued walking into her. Lucas took a half step back.

"Does it really matter? Would it make any difference at all?" Peyton yelled.

"It might." Lucas replied softly, causing Peyton to soften her tone as well.

"It just did, okay?" Peyton answered his earlier question.

"You don't have a better answer? Something more specific?" Lucas tried.

"Specific? I don't know, maybe that day after we went to the beach and you spent all of our lunch period telling me about Brooke, or it could have been before then." Peyton shrugged. "We've always been so close, I can't pinpoint it. It just happened."

"And I didn't notice because..." Lucas prompted, urging her to finish the sentence.

"Because you're a dumb ass?" Peyton suggested with a smile. "I guess because you had Brooke and you were finally happy and probably really glad to be rid of me and around a _real_ girl. I don't know, you answer that question." Peyton waited, but seeing Lucas' blank face she didn't expect him to answer so she started walking again. Lucas followed and walked quietly beside her. Upon noticing Peyton shivering, Lucas took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Peyton smiled in thanks as she pulled her arms through the sleeves. As they walked the two noticed that the rain had settled into a slow drizzle around them.

"Maybe I didn't see it because I didn't want to see it." Lucas finally answered.

"That could be it." Peyton replied simply, trying to hide the hurt thinking his answer meant he didn't want her.

"Not that I didn't want to, because believe me I did, so badly." He confessed, shocking Peyton. "That day we went to the beach, I was still so in love with you that it hurt, so it was that day that I decided to try and get over you, and that's when I met Brooke. Trust me thought, getting over you is a lot harder than it seems. It didn't work." Peyton couldn't stop the blush rising in her cheeks. "I thought I had to though which is probably why I missed any signs of your new feelings because it would have made getting over you that much harder."

"But you wouldn't have had to!" Peyton laughed at his backwards logic.

"I didn't know that at the time."

"You're very strange, Luke."

"You know, no matter how happy I was with Brooke, I would have been so much happier to be with you, if you had just told me."

"I don't know. Maybe Brooke was exactly what you needed, and you would have just gotten mad at me." Peyton shrugged. Lucas stopped Peyton with a hand on her arm. She turned to face him as the two stood in the middle of the road.

"_You_ are what I need. I'm sorry I just got sick of waiting." Lucas told her.

"I'm sorry." Peyton hung her head as she realised the pain she had unintentionally inflicted on him. Lucas moved his hands to Peyton's face, lifting it so they were eye level. Gently cradling her face in his hands, Lucas leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips.

"What about Brooke?" Peyton asked once they had pulled away.

"I think Nathan and Haley may have filled her in on a few things when I left them in the limousine alone. Besides, she was already kind of annoyed because I was always talking about you, spending time with you, thinking about you." Lucas smiled. "I think the last straw was when I came out here to chase you down. I don't think she's going to be waiting for me after this." Peyton laughed at his explanation.

"I'm glad I got you laughing again." Lucas admitted.

"I'm sure you are." Peyton sighed as she pulled him towards her for another kiss.

**The End**

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